Full text of "Investigation of un-American activities and propaganda. Report of the Special committee on un-American activities pursuant to H. Res. 282 (75th Congress)"

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^ Union Calendar No. 2

^ 76th Congress, 1st Session - House Report No. 2

INVESTIGATION OF
UN-AMERICAN ACTIVITIES AND PROPAGANDA

REPORT

OP THE

SPECIAL COMMITTEE ON UN-AMERICAN ACTIVITIES

PURSUANT TO

H. Res. 282

(75th Congress)

January 3, 1939. — Committed to the Committee of the Whole House
on the state of the Union and ordered to be printed

UNITED STATES

GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE

WASHINGTON : 1939

.,V*^^

PUBLIC

.^ .A <V «cl f* ••* -• ■

CONTENTS

Page.

I. Introduction 1

II. What are un-American activities — 10

(a) Americanism defined 10

(b) Americanism contrasted with communism, fascism, and

Nazi-ism 11

III. Communism 12

(a) Principles 12

(6) History - 13

IV. Communist Party, United States of America 24

(a) Control by Communist International 24

(6) Present-day tactics 26

1. Trojan-horse tactics 27

2. Ethics 28

3. Use of civil liberties to destroy liberties 29

4. The use of the red-baiting charge against critics 30

5. In political coalitions 30

6. In Federal projects 31

7. Communist penetration of labor unions 46

8. In churches, schools, etc 65

9. Lawlessness and violence 66

10. The Farmer-Labor Party 67

11. Communism on th-e west coast 67

12. The fellow travelers 68

1. Control 68

2. Aim 68

3. Scope 68

4. Examples of front organizations 69

(d) Aliens engaged in un-American activities 88

(e) Volunteers to Loyalist Spain 90

V. Fascism and Nazi-ism in the United States 91

VI. Summary of findings 1^18

VII. Recommendations 123

Union Calendar No. 2

76th Congress ) HOUSE OF EEPEESENTATIA^ES ( Report
1st Session ] \ No. 2

INVESTIGATION OF UN-AMERICAN ACTIVITIES AND

PROPAGANDA

January 3, 1939. — Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the
state of the Union and ordered to be printed

Mr. Dies, from the Special Committee to Investigate Un-American
Activities and Propaganda in the United States, submitted the
following

EEPORT

[Pursuant to H. Res. 282, 75th Cong.]
I. Introduction

On May 26, 1938, the House of Representatives adopted House
Resolution 282, authorizing the Speaker —

to appoint a special committee to be composed of seven members for the purpose
of conducting an investigation of (1) the extent, character, and objects qf un-
American propaganda activities in the United States; (2) the diffusion within the
United States of subversive and un-American propaganda that is instigated from
foreign countries or of a domestic origin and attacks the principle of the form of
government as guaranteed by our Constitution; and (3) all other questions in
relation thereto that would aid Congress in any necessary remedial legislation.

After the adoption of this resolution, the House of Representatives
on June 9, 1938, adopted House Resolution 510 authoiizing the ex-
penditure of $25,000 for the conduct of the investigation and provid-
mg as follows:

and the head of each executive department is hereby requested to detail to said
special committee such number of legal and expert assistants and investigators
as said committee may from time to time deem necessary.

After the committee was appointed, the chairman thereof, acting
under the instructions of the full committee, wrote the following letter
to Attorney General Homer S. Cummings, on June 17, 1938:

Hon. Homer S. Cummings,

Attorney General, Washington, D. C.
Sir: In accordance with House Resolution 510, which requests the head of
each executive department to detail to the Committee on Un-American Activities,
of which I am chairman, such number of legal and expert assistants and investi-
gators as said committee may from time to time deem necessary, I am requesting
you to detail to our committee as soon as possible as many investigators as you

2 UN-AMERICAN ACTIVITIES AND PROPAGANDA

can spare and also some lawyer In your Department. I have written to the
Honorable J. Edgar Hoover and requested his cooperation in this matter.

Sorne time ago your Department conducted an investigation of the German-
American Bund, and I am anxious to secure your files and report in reference to
this matter, and to have detailed to our committee the same investigators who
did this work.

As our committee was only given $25,000, we will largely depend upon such
assistance as your Department may be able to give us in accordance with the
resolution of Congress.

As I plan to leave here in a few weeks I am anxious to get the investigation
organized, and under way so that hearings can begin within 6 weeks. I will
therefore appreciate a prompt reply to this letter.
Very sincerely yours,

Martin Dies.

On June 17, 1938, the chairman also wrote the following letter to
the Honorable J. Edgar Hoover, Federal Bureau of Investigation:

Hon. J. Edgau Hoovbr,

Federal Bureau of Investigation, Washington, D. C.

Mt Dear Mr. Hoover: Under House Resolution 510, the head of each execu-
tive department is requested to detail to the Committee on Un-American Activi-
ties, of which I am chairman, such number of legal and expert assistants and
investigators as said committee may from time to time deem necessary.

I am requesting you and the Attorney General to detail to our conmiittee some
investigators to assist us In our inquiry. I am sure that you have some men that
have had experience in connection with the investigation of the German-American
Bund and also communistic activities.

I will appreciate the courtesy if you will arrange to do this in the near future
BO that I can discuss the matter with these investigators and map out the course
of procedure.

Sincerely yours,

Martin Dies.

On June 21, 1938, the chairman received the following answer from
the Honorable J. Edgar Hoover.

Hon. Martin Dies,

House of Representatives, Washington, D. C.

My Dear Congressman: I wish to acknowledge receipt of your letter of June
17, 1938, in which you request tliat special agents of this Bureau be detailed to
assist you in your investigation which is being made under House Resolution 510.
Inasmuch as the decision as to whether agents of this Bureau might be available
is'a question which must necessarily be passed upon by the Attorney General, I
am referring your inquiry to him.

With expressions of my highest esteem and best regards, I am.
Sincerely yours,

John Edgar Hoover, Director.

On June 27, 1938, the chairman received the following answer from
Thurman Arnold, Acting Attorney General of the United States:

Hon. Martin Dies,

House of Representatives, Washington, D. C.

My Dear Co.ngressman: This acknowledges your letter of June 17, In which
you request this Department to assign to the Committee on Un-American Activi-
ties such number of legal and expert assistants and investigators as the committee
might from time to time find ncces.sary. I note specifically that you request at
this time as many investigators as can be spared, and also some lawyer from this
Department.

While I should like to be of service to you, I regret to say that I am unable to
assign to your conunittee any special agents of the Federal Bureau of Investiga-
tion, owing to the fact that they are required to devote all of their services to the
performance of the specific functions of the Bureau. As of course you are aware
the principal duties of the Bureau are the investigation of violations of laws ot
the United States, and the apprehension of persons charged therewith.

UN-AMERICAN ACTIVITIES AND PROPAGANDA 3

I find It equally difficult to comply with your request that an attorney from this
Department be assigned to your committee. The limited appropriations for this
Department, and the restrictions imposed by the Congress on the purposes for
which they may be used, unfortunately preclude me from doing so.

I should be very glad were I in a position to be of assistance to you in this
matter, and it is a source of regret to me that circumstances prevent my doing so.
With kind personal regards, I am
Sincerely yours,

Thtjrman Arnold,
Acting Attorney General.

On June 30, 1938, the chairman replied to Mr. Arnold's letter by
the following letter:

Hon. Thurman Arnold,

Acting Attorney General, Washington, D. C.

Dear Sir: This is to acknowledge receipt of your letter of June 27 and to express
my deep regret that you have not seen fit to respect the wishes of Congress with
reference to the assignment of investigators to our Committee on Un-American
Activities.

Your failure to do this will greatly handicap us in the thorough investigation
which Congress intends us to conduct. We were limited by the Accounts Com-
mittee to $25,000 and were told that since we could use some of the investigators
and attorneys in the Department of Justice, we would not need more than $25,000.
Very truly yours,

Martin Dies.

Then on July 6, 1938, the chairman wrote the following letter to the
Honorable Homer S. Cummings, Attorney General of the United
States, which is as follows:

Hon. Homer S. Cummings,

Attorney General, Washington, D. C.
Mt Dear Mr. Cummings: On June 17, 1938, I requested you to furnish our
committee with the reports of your Department on Nazi activities in the United
States, including the German-American Bund. I have received no reply to my
letter with reference to this matter and I am at a loss to account for this attitude.
WiU you please advise me by return mail whether or not you intend to let us
have these reports.

Very truly yours,

Martin Dies.

On July 11, 1938, Attorney General Homer S. Cummings repHed to
the chairman's letter by the following letter:

Hon. Martin Dies,

House of Representatives, Washington, D. C,
Mt Dear Mr. Congressman: This acknowledges your letter of July 7, in which
you state that you have received no reply to your letter of June 17, 1938. I find
that under date of June 27 Acting Attorney General Arnold replied to your letter.
For your convenience I am sending you a copy of Mr. Arnold's letter.
With kind personal regards,
Sincerely yours,

Homer S. Cummings,

Attorney General.

On August 18, 1938, the chairman received the following letter from
Robert H. Jackson, Acting Attorney General:

Hon. Martin Dies,

House of Representatives, Washington, D. C.

Mt Dear Congressman Dies: In accordance with your request on behalf of
your committee, we are enclosing to you a report made by the Federal Bureau of
Investigation upon the German-American Bund and its affiliated organizations.

While there is a well-established and wise policy upholding investigative
reports confidential within the Department, it is our view that this request from

4 UN-AM KRIC AN ACTIVITIES AND PROPAGANDA

your regularly constituted committee can be complied with under the circnm-
Btanccs in this case, without jeopardy to any interest of the Government.

We would ask, however, that this be held exclusively for the use and guidance
of the conunittee itself.
Sincerely yours,

Robert H. Jacksox,
Acting Attorney General.

On August 24, 1938, in compliance with instructions from the full
Committee on Un-American Activities and Propaganda, the chairman
wrote the foUowmg letter to the President of the United States:

Hon. Franklin D. Roosevelt,
President of the United States,

Washington, D. C.

Dear Mr. President: Under House Resolution 510 the head of each executive
department is requested to detail to our Conunittee on Un-American Activities
and Propaganda such number of legal and expert assistants and investigators as
the committee may from time to time deem necessary.

On June 17 the chairman of the Committee on Un-American Activities and
Propaganda requested, in WTiting, Hon. J. Edgar Hoover to assign to the com-
mittee some investigators in accordance with the resolution. On June 21 Mr.
Hoover informed the chairman that the decision as to whether agents of the
Bureau might be available to the committee would have to be passed upon by the
Attorney General. On June 17 the chairman of the committee, in a letter to
Attorney General Homer S. Cummings, requested the Department of Justice to
assign legal and expert assistants and investigators to the committee, in accordance
with the resolution adopted by Congress, and to deliver to the committee the
reports on the German-American Bund investigation conducted by the Depart-
ment of Justice. On June 27 Mr. Arnold, Acting Attorney General, declined to
assign to the Committee on Un-American Activities and Propaganda any special
agents of the Bureau of Investigation or any attorney of the Department of Jus-
tice. However, a few days ago the reports of the investigation conducted by the
Department of Justice with reference to the German-American Bund were turned
over to the committee.

After the House of Representatives, by an overwhelming majority, had author-
ized and directed this investigation the Committee on Un-American Activities
requested the Committee on Accounts to allot $100,000 for the investigation.
However, the Committee on Accounts only allotted $25,000, but provided for the
use of special investigators, attorne3's, and clerical help to be obtained from the
appropriate departments. Our committee was told that in view of this provision
we would not need more than $25,000.

The committee has definite proof that the Department of Justice and the
Works Progress Administration have been carrying on their pay rolls investiga-
tors for the La FoUette committee. It is, therefore, clear that the precedent has
been established and we respectfully urge you to request the Department of
Justice and the Works Progress Administration to place upon their pay rolls the
names of 12 investigators, which we will submit to them, and several stenograph-
ers, and at least 1 attorney. This will enable us to conduct a thorough investiga-
tion in accordance with the popular demand, which is evidenced by the many
letters and telegrams we are receiving from all parts of the country. Unless we
receive this aid which has been extended to another committee we will be greatly
handicapped in the prosecution of this inquiry. The committee has only four
investigators, but does not have any paid secretary or clerks. For a short period
the committee had a stenographer, but has not been able to afford an attorney.
Therefore, it will be readily seen that our personnel is wholly inadequate to do the
work directed by the House of Representatives.

The hearings thus far have revealed a startling situation which should arouse
the active interest of every patriotic citizen. The testimony thus far heard tends
to indicate that foreign governments are Influencing, if not directing, policies and
activities of certain organizations in the United States and that those foreign
governments are using these organizations in the United States as fronts to
advance their cause and interests in the United States. The evidence further
tends to indicate that the overwhelming majority of the memberships of these
organizations are entirely innocent and have been merely duped into lending
their influence and financial assistance to the cause of foreign nations. It is
apparent, however, that these foreign countries have succeeded In transferring
their quarrels and "isinB" to our shores.

UN-AMERICAN ACTIVITIES AND PROPAGANDA 5

Of course, some of the testimony must be discounted due to bias, the natural
tendency to exaggerate when dealing with this subject, and to other factors.
But, after making due allowances for all these factors, the fact remains that the
situation is sufficiently serious to justify a thorough and fearless investigation
which will accord to all sides a full opportunity to be heard to the end that the
truth with regard to all un-American activities and propaganda may be ascer-
tained once and for all.

Every member of this committee is willing to devote himself tirelessly to the
investigation and, if we can be supplied with a staff of competent and efficient
investigators, stenographers, and attorneys to be designated by the committee
and placed upon the pay roll of the appropriate departments, we are convinced
that we will be able to present to Congress and the Nation an accurate report
based upon the truth whatever it may be.

Therefore, in accordance with the resolution adopted by the House of Repre-
sentatives and the precedent heretofore established, we appeal to you to direct
or request the appropriate departments to cooperate with us with reference to
these matters.

Very sincerely yours,

Special Committee on Un-American Activities,
By Martin Dies, Chairman.

Attest: Robert E. Stripling, Secretary.

On August 27, 1938, the President replied to the preceding letter aa
follows:

Hon. Martin Dies,

Chairman, Special Committee on Un-American Activities,

House of Representatives, Washington, D. C.

My Dear Mr. Dies: I have received your letter of August 25, requesting that
the Department of Justice and the Works Progress Administration place upon
their pay rolls the names of 12 investigators, several stenographers, and at least
one attorney. I understand that during the past year the Department of Justice
assigned to "other congressional committees special experts, who were already em-
ployed by the Department of Justice, and it is possible, though I have no record
with me at Hyde Park, that the Works Progress Administration assigned stenog-
raphers and others who were on the relief rolls. This, however, presents an en-
tirely different picture from your request that the department or agency funds be
employed to pay people already in the employ of your committee.

However, I shall be glad to take the matter up with the Department of Justice
and the Works Progress Administration, and I will advise you of their replies at
a later date.

Very sincerely yours,

Franklin D. Roosevelt.

The chairman heard nothing further from the President until Octo-
ber 1, 1938, when he received the following letter transmitting a letter
dated September 17, 1938, from Harry L. Hopkins to the President,
and a letter dated September 1, 1938. from the Acting Attorney Gen-
eral to the President. The letter ol the President to the chairman
dated October 1, 1938, and the two letters transmitted by the President
to the chairman are set forth as follows:

Hon. Martin Dies,

Chairman, Special Committee on Un-American Activities,

House of Representatives, Washington, D. C.

Mt Dear Mr. Dies: I am a little tardy in sending you the enclosed copies of
letters from the Acting Attorney General and Mr. Hopkins. I have been so much
occupied during the past two weeks with the international situation that I have
only just gotten down to enclosing these letters.
Very sincerely yours,

Franklin D. Roosevelt.

Enclosures.

Q UN-AMERICAN ACTIVITIES AND PROPAGANDA

The President,

The White House, Washington, D. C.

My Dear Mr. President: Referring to your joint memorandum of August
27, 1938, to the Attorney General and to me, concerning the request of Congress-
man Dies to place upon the pay rolls of the Department of Justice and of thia
administration the names of 12 investigators to be named by his committee,
eeveral stenographers, and at least one attorney, it is my opinion that I would
not be justified, legally or otherwise, should I do this.

House Resolution 510. adopted June 9, 1938, provides that "the head of each
executive department is hereby requested to detail to said special committee such
number of legal and expert assistants and Investigators as said committee may
from time to time deem necessary." It will be seen that this does not authorize
the employment of additional personnel for the sole purpose of detail to the com-
mittee, but merely permits the detail of such personnel as is already on tlie pay
rolls of the departments. As the present staffs of my legal and investigative
divisions are limited strictly to the absolute minimum requirements for the con-
duct of their functions, it would seriously hamper their activities should I be
required to detail any part to the committee. One of our employees was recently
assigned to the special committee of which Congressman Dies is chairman, but
I express the hope that you will not require me to make additional details.

It is true that at one time the Works Progress Administration did loan some of
its employees to the Committee on Education and Labor in connection with its
investigation of violations of free speech and rights of labor, but the administra-
tion did not employ special personnel for the sole purpose of detailing the same to
that committee. I may add, however, that the act, approved February 9, 1937,
making appropriation for the work relief program, contained a specific provision
prohibiting this practice.
Respectfully,

Harry L. Hopkins, Administrator.

The President,

The While House, Washington, D. C.

Mv Dear Mr. President: I take pleasure in acknowledging your memorandum
of August 27, addressed jointly to the Attorney General and to Hon. Harry L.
Hopkins and enclosing a copy of a letter addressed to you by Congressman Martin
Dies, dated August 24, 1938, and a copy of your reply, dated August 27, 1938.

Congressman Dies has heretofore requested this Department to assign inves-
tigators to his committee. We were constrained to decline to comply with this
request. For your information, a copy of the letter sent to Congressman Dies
on tliis subject, dated June 27, 1938, is enclosed herewith.

It has been the policy of the Department of Justice to decline to assign agents
of the Federal Bureau of Investigation to committees of Congress. Requests of
that kind have been made by almost every investigating committee appointed by
either House. To comply with some of these requests and not with others would
obviously lead to embarrassment. On the other hand, to attempt to comply
with all of them would absorb a considerable portion of the staff of the Bureau.

Some time ago, at your request, this Department assigned two attorneys to the
La Follette Civil Liberties Committee. This, however, was a rather exceptional
Bituation. Moreover, no agents or investigators were detailed to the committee.
Mr. Dies appears to be incorrectly informed on this matter.

It is suggested that in any further reply that you make to Congressman Dies
you may care to refer to the fact that he is mininformed if he is under the impres-
sion that the Department of Justice has carried on its pay roll any investigators
for the La Follette committee, or for any other committee, and that the action of
the Department of Justice in respect to the request of his committee la in accord-
ance with the customary practice.
Respectfully,

Acting Attorney General.
Enclosure No. 2235.

The cl. airman also requested the Department of Labor to assign to
the committee some investigators, wkich the Department of Labor
failed to do.

UN-AMERICAN ACTIVITIES AND PROPAGANDA 7

The only offer of assistance came from the secretary of the
La Follette Civil Liberties Committee, who telephoned the chairman
that he coiild secure departmental aid for the committee. Two men,
sent by the secretary of the La Follette Civil Liberties Committee
tendered their services to the Committee on Un-American Activities
in executive session. One had been placed on the Works Progress
Administration pay roll, as was admitted by Harry L. Hopkins, in
his letter of September 17, to the President. The other was on the
pay roll of either the Department of Justice or the La Follette Com-
mittee. The chairman had both of these men appear before the
committee in executive session and both of them admitted that they
had been sent by the secretary of the La Follette Civil Liberties
Committee.

One of the men admitted that he had been placed upon the pay
roll of the Works Progress Administration and the other man was
uncertain as to whether or not he was on the pay roll of the Depart-
ment of Justice or the La Follette Committee. The committee did
not accept the services of these two men because it was convinced
that these men were assigned to the committee for the purpose of
sabotaging the investigation.

From the above letters and statements, it will be seen that these
departments of the Government refused to comply with the request
of the House of Representatives as contained in the resolution referred
to above. Not only did the heads of these respective departments
refuse to carry out the resolution of Congress, but some of them deUb
erately sought to discredit the investigation by ridicule and misrepre-
sentation. As an illustration of the dehberate misrepresentation of
the testimony by certain Cabinet officers, I wish to cite one instance.
J. B. Matthews, a \\itness who appeared before our committee, testified
as follows:

The Communist Party relies heavily upon the carelessness or indifference of
thousands of prominent citizens in lending their names for its propaganda pur-
poses. For example, the French newspaper Ce Soir, which is owned outright by
the Communist Party, recently featured hearty greetings from Clark Gable,
Robert Taylor, James Cagney, and even Shirley Temple. The League of Women
Shoppers boasts of the membership of Miriam Hopkins and Bette Davis. A list
of such persons could be expanded almost indefinitely. No one, I hope, is going
to claim that any one of these persons in particular is a Communist. The un-
fortunate fact, however, remains that most of them unwittingly serve, albeit in
this slight way, the purposes of the Communist Party. Their names have
definite propaganda value which the party is quick to exploit.

This was the only testimony by anyone in which the name^ of
Shirley Temple was mentioned. Here is what Secretary of the Interior,
Harold F. Ickes, said in a public speech:

They've (Committee on Un-American Activities) gone into Hollywood and
there discovered a great red plot. They have found dangerous radicals there, led
by little Shirley Temple. Imagine the great committee raiding her nursery and
seizing her dolls as evidence.

Here is what Secretary of Labor Francis Perkins said:

Perhaps it is fortunate that Shirley Temple was born an American citizen and
that we win not have to debate the issue raised by the preposterous revelations of
your committee in regard to this innocent and likeable child.

The above testimony of Mr. Matthews has never been denied and
in fact was admitted by some of the screen stars mentioned.

3 UN-AMERICAX ACTIVITIES A>'D PIlOPAGA^"DA

We could cite many other instances of deliberate misrepresentation
on the part of high-ranking Government officials, as well as numerous
radical writers, but the above instance is taken at random to illustrate
that not only did the heads of the respective departments refuse to
comply with the request of the House of Representatives, but that
they actually went out of their way to hamstring and discredit the
investigation.

It must be borne in mind that the committee did not appoint any
investigators until after the department heads refused to cooperate
with the committee in accordance with the resolution of Congress.
This is important to remember in view of the charges that have been
made to the effect that the committee sought to discredit the New
Deal. If the committee had ever had any such intention, it would
certainly not have olfered to let the New Deal appointees do the
investigating.

Most of the hearings were held in the city of Washington, but sub-
committee hearings were conducted in New York and Detroit.
More than a hundred witnesses from various States and towns were
heard by the committee and a vast quantity of documents and
written and printed evidence was submitted. With the exception of
a few witnesses who appeared at the request of certain national
organizations, all of the witnesses who appeared before the com-
mittee were located by our investigators and subpenaed. These
witnesses were furnished transportation by the committee and paid
the usual fee which the law allows in such cases.

WTiile there have been a large number of offers of financial assist-
ance from individuals throughout the country, out of consideration
of public policy, the committee has refused such offers in every case
and has not accepted any contribution from any source. The con-
tributions that were sent to the committee in the form of cash and
checks were promptly returned.

We have heard over 100 witnesses from nearly every section of the
country and from nearly every walk of life. We have heard from
officials and members of the American Federation of Labor and the
Congress for Industrial Organization. Ministers, lawyers, judges,
college professors, newspaper reporters and editors, laboring people,
policemen, national guardsmen, merchants, and the heads of such
great organizations as the American Legion, the Veterans of Foreign
Wars, the Daughters of the American Revolution, the Boy Scouts of
America, and many others have appeared as sworn witnesses before
our committee. Some of the witnesses have been Democrats, some
Republicans; others have been Communists, Progressives, Socialists,
and Farmer Laboritcs. We have heard from Jews and Gentiles, and
from Protestants and Catholics.

We know^ of no committee which has heard a more representative
group of American citizens than we have, although we do not assume
responsibility for the credibihty of every witness any more than a
court. Some of the testimony may be discarded because of bias or
the tendency to exaggerate. None of our findings are predicated
upon such testimony or upon opinions or hearsay. We have also
received a mass of documentary evidence, most of which is absolutely
authentic and would be admissible in any court.

We have devoted considerable time and effort to the investigation
of Nazi and Fascist activities in the United States. A large part of

UN-AMERICAN ACTIVITIES AND PROPAGANDA 9

the $25,000 placed at our disposal has been spent to uncover Nazi
and Fascist activities. We secured a mass of documentary evidence
with reference to Nazi and Fascist activities and propaganda. After
much difficulty we finally secured from the Department of Justice its
report on Nazi activities in the United States. While there was very
little in this report that we did not have, we were able to secure some
leads, which we developed so that the record of hearings and this report
will give the public the benefit of the combined investigation of Nazi
activities conducted by our committee and by the Department of
Justice.

There is one astonishing fact which we have discovered. Witnesses
from widely separated areas corroborate each other, and the oral
testimony of some witnesses is supported by documentary evidence
which they have never seen. While Homer Martin, president of the
United Automobile Workers of America, branded Ralph Knox, an
official of that union, as a "screwball," when you read the testimony of
both you will find that they testified to substantially the same facts
and described the same situation. We further find that witnesses like
Martin, Dobrzynski, Eagar, McCartney, and others who are either
bona fide members or officials of the C. I. O. and, therefore, cannot be
accused of being prejudiced against the C. I. O., corroborate the
testimony of other witnesses.

In the beginning, the committee employed six investigators, but,
due to diminishing funds, the committee was compelled to discharge
three of these investigators. This left three investigators to do the
work. The committee has never employed any lawyer, and most of
the work has been done with a minimum of stenographic help.

While the committee has unearthed some startling facts, it has been
greatly handicapped in its work, due to insufficient funds and the
refusal of the heads of the respective departments to comply w^ith the
request of the House. The committee has been able to hear only a
few of the numerous witnesses that can be subpenaed. In fact,, the
committee has only scratched the surface, and what we have already
proved is merely a preface to what can be proved if we are given a
fair and decent opportunity. Much of the oral testimony is sup-
ported by documentary proof. It is interesting to note that many of
the facts found by the committee were also found by the United Mine
Workers and Mr. John L. Lewis in 1924 when they investigated un-
American activities, as will be shown by their published report which
will appear in the record of our hearings.

The committee has largely confined its investigation to communism,
fascism, and nazi-ism. In connection with its investigation of com-
munism, the committee has given careful consideration to the numer-
ous front organizations of the Corhmunist Party which are under the
control or influence of the Communist Party of the United States.
The committee has also heard considerable evidence with reference to
the permeation of labor unions by Communists and their seizure of
strategic positions in such labor unions. In its consideration of nazi-ism
and fascism the committee has heard evidence with reference to other
organizations which preach and advocate racial and religious hatred.

It must be emphasized that this committee is nonpartisan. It has
not been deterred by partisan or political consideration from the fear-
less performance of its duty and functions. The committee has felt
that it is its sworn duty and solemn obligation to the people of this

10 UN-AMERICAN ACTIVITIES AND PROPAGANDA

country to focus the spotlight of pubHcit;^ upon every individual and
organization engaged in subversive activities regardless of politics or
partisanship.

II. What Are Un-American Activities?

(A) AMERICANISM DEFINED

In order to determine what activities and propaganda are un-
American, we must lirst deiine Americanism. No scientific definition
will be attempted, but we will undertake to set forth in simple and
understandable language what some of the chief principles of American-
ism are. In the first place, Americanism is the recognition of the
truth that the inherent and fundamental rights of maji are derived
from God and not from governments, societies, dictators, kings,
or majorities. This basic principle of Americanism is ex|)ressed in the
Declaration of Independence, where our immortal forefathers said that
all men are created equal and that they are endowed by their Creator
with certain inalienable rights, chief among which are life, liberty,
and the pursuit of happiness. From this declaration and the well-
established interpretations that have been put upon it from the begin-
ning of the Republic douTi to the present moment, it is clear that
Americanism recognizes the existence of a God and the all-important
fact that the fundamental rights of man are derived from God and
not from any other source. Among these inalienable rights which are
the gifts of man from his Creator are: (1) Freedom of worship; (2)
freedom of speech, (3) freedom of press; (4) freedom of assemblage;
(5) freedom to work in such occupation as the experience, training, and
qualifications of a man may enable him to secure and hold; (G) freedom
to enjoy the fruits of his work, which means the protection of property
rights; (7) the right to pursue his happiness with the necessary implica-
tion that he does not harm or injure others in the pursuit of this
happiness. Upon this basic principle, the whole structure of the
American Government was constructed. The system of checks and
balances in the Constitution was wisely conceived and higeniously
constructed to provide every possible guaranty that every citizen
of the United States would enjoy and retain his God-given rights.
First, the Federal Government was specifically enjoined from exercis-
ing any power that was not expressly or by necessary implication
granted to it in the Constitution. Second, such powers as the Federal
Government was authorized to wield were wisely distributed between
the three great departments, the executive, the legislative, and the
judicial. The essence of Americanism is therefore class, religious, and
racial tolerance. It should be emphasized in the strongest language
possible that the maintenance of these three forms of tolerance is
essential to the preservation of Americanism. They constitute the
three great pillars upon which our Constitutional Republic rests, and
if any one o;f these pillars is destroyed, the whole structure of the
American system of government will crumble to the earth. Therefore,
the man who advocates class hatred is plainly un-American even if he
professes racial and religious tolerance. The converse of this proposi-
tion is equally true. It is as un-American to hate one's neighbor
he has more of this world's material goods as it is to hate him because
he was born into another race or worships God according to a different
faith.

UN-AMERICAN ACTIVITIES AND PROPAGANDA H

The American Government was established to guarantee the enjoy-
ment of these fundamental rights. It therefore follows that in
America the Government is the servant of the people. The rights of
the people are protected through laws and their strict enforcement.
For this reason, law and order are essential to the preservation of
Americanism while lawlessness and violence are distinctly un-Ameri-
can.

Americanism means the recognition of the God-given rights of man
and the protection of those rights under the Constitution through the
mstrumentality of an independent Congress, an untrammelled judi-
ciary, and a fair and impartial Executive operating under the American
system of checks and balances. Americanism likewise means the
protection of an unorganized majority from an organized minority as
well as the protection of a helpless minority from an inconsiderate and
thoughtless majority.

The characteristic which distinguishes our Republic from the dic-
tatorships of the world is not majority rule but the treatment of
minorities. Dictatorships muster huge majorities at the polls, through
intimidation and high-powered government propaganda, but these
majorities are used for ruthless tyranny over minorities. The rna-
jority rule of the American form of government is distinguished by its
recognition of certain rights of minorities which majorities cannot
alienate.

All of these definitions of Americanism are based upon the Declara-
tion of Independence and the Constitution.

(B) AMERICANISM CONTRASTED WITH COMMUNISM, FASCISM, AND

NAZI-ISM

The simplest and at the same time the most correct definition of
communism, fascism, and nazi-ism is that they all represent forms of
dictatorship which deny the divine origin of the fundamental rights of
man. Since all of these forms of dictatorship deny the divine origin
of the rights of man, they assume and exercise the power to abridge
or take away any or all of these rights as they see fit. In Germany,
Italy, and Russia, the state is every thhig ; the individual nothing. The
people are puppets in the hands of the ruhng dictators. Rights which
we have come to regard as elementary, such as freedom in its sevenfold
aspect, either do not exist or if they do exist to any degree are subject
to the whims and caprice of the ruhng dictators. In all of these
countries where these philosophies of government hold sway, the citi-
zen has no rights that the government is required to respect or protect.
WTiile the foundation of Americanism is class, racial, and rehgious
tolerance, and the foundation of nazi-ism and fascism is racial and
religious hatred, the foundation of communism is class ha,tred.
Americanism is a philosophy of government based upon the behef in
God as the Supreme Ruler of the Universe; nazi-ism, fascism, and com-
munism are pagan philosophies of government which either deny,
as in the case of the communist, or ignore as in the case of the fascist
and nazi, the existence and divine authority of God. Since nazi-ism,
fascism, and communism are materialistic and pagan, hatred is en-
couraged. Since Americanism is rehgious, tolerance is the very essence
of its being.

12 UN-AMERICAN ACTIVITIES AND PROPAGANDA

III. Communism

(A) PRINCIPLES

Cominiiiiism may be defined as an organized movement which works
for the overthrow by force or violence of the governments of countries
which are not yet under the control of the Communists, and estab-
lishment in place thereof of (o) a regime termed proletarian dictator-
ship, and (6) an economic system based upon the substitution of com-
munal ownership of property for private ownership.

Communism is a world-wide political organization advocating: (1)
the abolition of all foims of religion; (2) the destruction of private
property and the abolition of inheritance; (3) absolute social and racial
equality; (4) revolution under the leadership of the Communist Inter-
national; (5) engaging in activities in foreign countries in order to
cause strikes, riots, sabotage, bloodshed, and civil war; (6) destruction
of all forms of representative or democratic government, including
civil liberties such as freedom of speech, of the press, ancl of assem-
blage; (7) the ultimate objective of world revolution to establish the
dictatorship of the so-called proletariat into a universal union of soviet
socialist republics with its capital at Moscow; (8) the achievement of
these ends through extreme appeals to hatred.

The Communists, like the Nazis and Fascists, believe and advocate
that it is the duty of government to support the people and the right
of government to exact blind obedience on all matters from the people.
All three of these systems seek to regiment the people under bureau-
cratic and paternalistic governments through a system of planned
economy. In the place of individual mitiative, ambition, and effort,
they seek to establish a collectivism which will transform the individual
into a slave of the state. Intolerance and hatred are preached in
order to gain the people's adherence to the coUectivisitic philosophy,
and the promise of economic security is constantly dangled before
their eyes to lure them into slavery. The economic security of col-
lectivism is the security of a prison. People are asked to sacrifice
their fundamental rights in return for the false promise that they
will gain mateiial comfort and economic security.

It follows, therefore, that communism is diametrically opposed to
Americanism. It also follows that a scheme or philosophy of govern-
ment or a teaclung which embraces all or any essential part of the
principles of communism is in-American. From a consideration of
the above principles, it would appear that the following conclusions
are justified: (1) Any organization or individual who believes in or
teaches the destruction of our sevenfold freedom is un-American;
(2) any organization or individual who preaches or promotes class,
religious, or racial hatred is un-American; (3) Any organization
or individual who believes in or advocates the destruction of the
God-given rights of man is un-American; (4) any organization or
individual who believes in or advocates disrespect for or the violent
overthrow of our constituted authorities is un-American; (5) any
organization or individual who believes in or advocates a system of
political, economic, or social regimentation based upon a planned
economy is un-American; (6) any organization of individual who
believes in or advocates the destruction of the American system of
checks and balances with its three independent coordinate branches
of government is un-American.

UN-AMERICAN ACTIVITIES AND PROPAGANDA 13

It must be borne always in mind, however, that, luiHke Russia,
Germany, or Italy, Americanism permits American citizens to believe
in, advocate, and teach doctrines which are contrary to it. In
America, citizens have a right to believe in and advocate communism,
fascism, nazi-ism, or any other sj-stem of government that they ap-
prove, subject to certain restrictions and regulations which in nowise
destroy the principles of freedom. In this connection, hoAvever, it
must be remembered that the right to teach or advocate communism,
fascism, or nazi-ism does not extend to aliens who occupy the status
of guests and can be deported under such laws as Congress may see
fit to enact.

While Congress does not have the power to deny to citizens the
right to believe in, teach, or advocate, communism, fascism, and nazi-
ism, it does have the right to focus the spotlight of publicity upon
their activities and to outlaw any organization which is found to be
under the control of, or subject to the dictation of a foreign govern-
ment. Congress also has the right to require such organizations to
make periodic reports to some governmental agency which shall fur-
nish detailed information with regard to the true names of the mem-
bers of such organizations, the amount of money collected, from whom
collected, and the manner in which the money is expended.

(B) HISTORY

Alanifesto of the Communist Party. — Modern communism begins
with the Manifesto of the Communist Party, by Karl Marx and
Friedrieh Engels, which appeared in January 1848. The manifesto,
which is also the bible of modern socialism, is, therefore, an important
world document, as it is the foinidation of the struggle of the working
class for industrial and political emancipation.

To comprehend either communism or its half-brother, socialism, it
is essential to understand the main principles enunciated by Marx
and Engels. When the manifesto made its first appearance in the
world the proletarian movement was confined to a limited field of
operation. The basic thought underlying the manifesto is as follows:

The history of all human society, past and present, has been the history of
class struggles; incessant warfare bet^A•een the e.xploited and exploiter, betvyeen
oppressed classes and ruling classes at various stages in the evolution of society;
the struggle has now reached a stage of development when the exploited and op-
pressed class [the proletariat] cannot free itself from the dominion of the exploiting
and ruling class [the bourgeoisie] withovit at one and the same time and forever
ridding society of exploitation, oppression, and class struggles.

Engels stated later that Marx, and Marx alone, was the originator
of this fundamental thought. The guiding motif of the manifesto is
"Proletarians of all lands, unite."

The concludmg paragraph reads:

Communists scorn to hide their views and aims. They openly declare that
their purpose can only be achieved by the forcible overthrow of the whole extant
social order. Let the ruling classes tremble at the prospect of a Communist
revolution. Proletarians have nothing to lose but their chains. They have a
world to win. Proletarians of all lands, unite.

First International. — The First International Association of Workers
based partially on the manifesto, was estabhshed on September 28.
1864, at St. James Hall, London, largely through the efforts of Karl

H. Kept. 2, 76-1—39 3

14 UN-AMERICAN ACTIVITIES AND PROPAGANDA

Marx, and was known as the First International. The statute of the
International Association of Workers reads as follows:

That the emancipation of the working class is to be attained by the working
class itself; that the struggle for the emancipation of the working class does not
mean struggle for class privileges and monopolies but a struggle for equal rights
and equal obligations for the abolition of every kind of class domination.

The P'irst International survived for only 9 years. In 1872 Marx
withdrew his support because the anarchists were becoming too power-
ful and he was bitterly opposed to them, as they were against any
sj^stera of government including that proposed by Marx, He pre-
ferred to pull down the house ho himself had built rather than let the
anarchist element control.

Second International. — The Second International was formed at
Paris in 1889, 6 years after Marx's death, but it was based more
firmly on his doctrines than the First International and became the
fountahihead of international socialism.

The World War led to a temporary disruption of the Second Inter-
national, as the Socialists, with few exceptions, put patriotism before
their party doctrines. The Second International is still in existence
but was repudiated by the extreme radical element, of which Nicholai
Lenin, a Russian disciple of Marx who had been exiled for revolu-
tionary activities, was the leader.

Abdication of the Czar and formation oj provisional government. —
There is still considerable misunderstanding regarding the part played
by the Communists in forcing the abdication of the Czar in March
1917, and in the creation of the provisional government. The fact is
that the Communists played practically no part in the overthrow of
the Czar's government. When Czar Nicholas II abdicated he did so
to the representatives of the Duma, elected by the people. At that
time Lenin was in exile in Switzerland and Trotsky was living in the
Bronx, N. Y., and most of the other leading Communists were either
in exile from Russia or in the prison camps of Siberia.

No matter how justifiable a revolution against the Czar's regime
may have been, no credit can be claimed by the Communists in order
to secure sympathy from liberals throughout the world. The pro-
visional government, composed of liberal members of the Duma and
headed by Prince Lvov, took over the control of Russia. The United
States was the first nation to recognize the provisional government of
Russia, which was organized on the same democratic principles as
our own.

The Communists, under Instructions from Lenin and Trotsky, pre-
pared carefully for an armed revolt and, when they struck the first
blow on October 25, 1917 (old Russian calendar; November 7, our
calendar), there were probably not more than 30,000 Communists in
all of Russia; yet with the help of thousands of deserters from the
army and the navy they quickly routed the demorahzcd forces of the
provisional government, driving Kerensky into exile and seizing con-
trol of the entire goveniment. Members of the former government
were either killed or exiled. The constituent assembly, which had
been called by the Kerensky government, was elected over a month
after the October revolution. However, in view of the fact that the
Communists failed to elect a majority of the members of the constitu-
ent assembly, it was dissolved by order of Lenin, thus officially placing
the Communists on record as being opposed to popular government

UN-AMERICAX ACTIVITIES AND PROPAGANDA |5

by liquidating the representatives elected directly by the people,
although under soviet auspices.

Third International. — The Third or Communist International was
organized by Lenin at Moscow in March 1919 to carry out the revo-
lution.ary purposes of the Communist Party and the Soviet Union.
It is the. revolutionary international of the working class and there is
no denying the fact that it has tremendous influence among the more
radical workers in every nation in the world. It had its beginning in
1915 and 1916 at conferences in Switzerland of the radical groups of
the Second International. At these conferences Nikolai Lenin first
came into prominence as the international revolutionary leader of the
left-wing Socialists or Communists.

In January 1919 the Russian Communist Party sent out a call for
a congress to be held at Moscow to form the Third or Communist
International. This invitation was sent to some 40 Communist,
revolutionar}', and left-wing Socialist groups throughout the world.

Thus, the Communist International, known in Russia as the Com-
intern, came into full-fledged bein^ at Moscow in March 1919, and
has ever since been the medium of instigating class warfare and social
revolution in all countries, in order to establish a world Soviet Union,
with the capital at Moscow.

Overthrow of the 'provisional government.- — One month after the
establishment of the provisional government the German general
staff sent Nikolai Lenin and a score of his radical followers in a closed
car from Switzerland through Germany back into Russia. This was a
master stroke of strategy, as Lenin rapidly undermined the loyalty
of the war-weary troops by promising a separate peace, bread, and a
division of the lands among the soldiers and peasants. The Com-
munists imder the aggressive leadership of Lenin, Trotzky, Zinoviev,
and Stalin, became the center of disloyal activities against the pro-
visional government headed by Kerensky, a Socialist. In July 1917
the Communists were unsuccessful in an uprising in St. Petersburg, and
its leaders, mcluding Lenin, had to flee to Finland. However, with
the failure of the Russian Army offensive in Galicia the difficulties of
the provisional government increased. The Communists infiltrated
back into Russia, and became bolder and more aggressive. Kerenskj^
who was a weak and vacillating leader, was afraid to arrest the
revolutionary Communists, or to call upon the army commanders for
assistance.

Principles of the Communist International. — -The main principles of
the Communist International are as follows: Overthrow and annihila-
tion of so-called capitalist governmental power and its replacement by
proletarian power; dictatorship of the working class; confiscation of
property; arming of the proletariat; armed conflict by the proletariat
against capitalism; no compromise with Socialists remaining in the
Second International.

The main objective of the Communist International is to promote
world revolution, in order to bring about a world-wide union of
Soviets, or dictatorship of the proletariat, with the capital at Moscow.

The Communist International and the Soviet Government. — The Com-
munist International is dominated by the Russian Communist Party
and soviet officials, and could not exist without the wholehearted
support of the leaders of the Russian Communist Party and the
financial backing of the Soviet Government.

IQ UN-AMERICAN ACTIVITIES AND PROPAGANDA

The two most important and powerful men in Russia, Joseph
Stalin, the Communist dictator who now holds two soviet posts, and
Viacheslaf M. Molotoif (or Molotov) chairman of the Council of
Peoples Commissars, are on the presidium or select committee that
plans and controls all the policies of the Communist International,
for spreading revolutionary propaganda in foreign countries in order
to intensify class hatred and cause strikes, riots, sabotage, and
revolutionary activities, leading to civil war and revolution.

The Communist International is actually part and parcel of the
Russian Communist Tarty and the Soviet Government. For diplo-
matic reasons, the Soviet Govenmicnt denies that it is responsible
for the propaganda that emanates from the Communist International,
but this pretense has long been apparent and has again been unmuskod
by the recent appointment of its two outstanding leaders, Stalin and
Molotoff, to important positions in the Soviet Government.

The leaders of the Communist Party and the government called
the conference for the formation of the Third International and the
Soviet Government immediately contributed 2,000,000 rubles ($1,000,-
000) to enable the Communist International to carry out its principles
and put into effect its program for revolution in all the nations of
the world.

'The Soviet Government. — The Government of Russia, which is known
as the Union of SociaUst Soviet Republics (U. S. S. R.), is an auto-
cratic self-constituted dictatorship by a small group of self-perpetuat-
ing revolutionists. Joseph Stalin, the secretary geneial of the
Communist Party, is the actual dictator. The Communist Party
consists of 1,500,000 members, out of 150,000,000 people in Russia,
but it controls the Soviet Government and the Conununist Interna-
tional.

The Communist Party. — The Political Bureau of the Central Com-
mittee of the Communist Party or the Politbureau, is composed of
10 of the outstanding Communist leaders, including Stalin and Molo-
tolT, and is the real power in Russia, ed'ectively controlling and
directing (1) the Soviet Government, which carries out the policies
laid down by the Politbureau and administers the affairs of Soviet
Russia; and (2) the Comintern, or Communist International, which
is the vehicle for the dissemination of revolutionary propaganda and
directs and stimulates revolutionary activities throughout the world.

The legislative power is vested in tiic Congress of Soviets, which
meets every 2 years, hstens to speeches, adopts resolutions, and
selects a central executive committee of between four and live hundred
members to represent it during the intermission. The central execu-
tive committee in turn selects a smaller group, known as the presid-
ium, which is the real legislative authority and appoints the com-
missars and judicial officers of the Government. The presidium is
closely afFdiated with the politbureau, and numy of its members are
the same, again including Stalin and .Niolotoff.

At a meeting of the American commission of the Comintern at
Moscow, in the month of May 1929, Stalin delivered two speeches,
which the soviet press was careful not to divulge until January 1930
(Communist International, Russian edition, March 20, 1930). Stalin
stated:

I consider that the Communist Party of the United States is one of the few
Communist Parties to which history has given decisive tasks from the point of

UN-AMERICAN ACTIVITIES AND PROPAGANDA 17

view of the world revolutionary movement. The revolutionary crisis has not
yet reached the United States, but we already have knowledge of numerous facts
which suggest that it is approaching.

It is necessary that the American Communist Party should be capable of
meeting the moment of crisis fulh- equipped to take the direction of future class
wars in the United States. You must prepare for that, comrades, with all your
strength and by every means; you must constantly improve and bolshevize the
American Communist Party. You must forge real revolutionary cadres and
leaders of the proletariat who will be capable of leading the millions of American
workers toward the revolutionary class wars.

Molotov, member of the presidium of the Communist International
and president of the Council of Peoples Commissars, read a detailed
report on "The Communist International and the Revolutionarj'^
Thrust" at the tenth session of the executive committee of the
Comintern, with reference to the United States, in part as follows:

The Comintern has given particular attention to the situation in the Communist
Party of the United States.

A special delegation of the executive committee of the Comintern was sent to
the last congress of this part}" (Communist Party of the United States). Afterward,
for several weeks, there sat at Moscow a commission of the presidium of the
executive committee of the Communist International which specially studied the
situation in the Communist Part}' of the United States. The presidium of the
executive committee of the Communist Party radically renewed the direction of
the American Communist Party and created within it the conditions of a real
Bolshevist development of the party and of a reinforcement of its authority
among the working masses.

Formation of the Communist Party in America. — Immediately after
the creation of the Communist International at Moscow, in March
1919, a call was issued for the organization of the Communist Parties
througliout the world and their adhesion to the Communist Inter-
national. A convention of extreme American radicals was called in
Chicago, in September 1919, made up of left-wing members of the old
Socialist Party and other radicals. It was here that the Communist
Party of America was founded as part of the Communist Inter-
national.

Political activities in the United States. — The Communists in the
United States openly admit their allegiance to the Communist Inter-
national at Moscow, and glory in the fact that they obey all the orders
issued from there immediately and implicitly.

The Communist Party in the United States was first organized in
Cliicago, m September 1919, and was composed mostly of foreign-born
workers, and had but Httle contact or influence with the great masses
of the workers in American industries. Its principal function then
was that of a propaganda organization for the Communist Inter-
national, in support of a communist society to be achieved by means
of a proletarian revolution and dictatorship.

Almost as soon as the American ^Communist Party was organized
it was driven under cover on account of its illegahty. In December
1921, the Workers' Party of America was formed as a camouflage for
the real Communist Party of America, which maintained its existence
underground. In 1925 the official name was changed to Workers'
(Communist) Party of America, and at a convention held in March
1928, the Communists finally threw off all camouflage and boldy came
out into the open as the Communist Party of the United States of
America, section of the Communist International, which is their pres-
ent name.

18 UN-AMERICAN ACTIVITIES AND PROPAGANDA

The Government, by use of the provisions of the war-time legisla-
tion, drove the Communist Party underground, where it remained in
an illegal status until 1924, when the repeal of the war measures and
the consequent halting of Government activities by the agents of the
Department of Justice, permitted it to reappear. The Communists
came more and more into the open until today they llaimt their revo-
lutionary activities throughout the country. Since 1925 the Depart-
ment of Justice has had no power, no authority, or no funds from the
Congress to investigate Communist propaganda or activities. During
the period that the Department of Justice had actual authority the
Comnumist Party was driven underground where it could not func-
tion successfully. Just so long as the agents of the Department of
Justice were active the movement remained comparatively stationary
and innocuous. At the present time the Communist Party of the
United States is thoroughly and highly organized, nationally and
locally, and is extremely active.

The following is part of the testimony of William Z. Foster, twice
candidate of the Communist Party for President of the United States,
before the Fish committee in which he explains some of the principles
of his party:

The Chairman. Would you mind stating to the committee the aims and
principles of the Communist Party?

Mr. FosT?:u. The aims and principles of the Communist Party, briefly stated,
are to organize the workers to defend their interests under the capitalist system
and to eventually abolish the capitalist system and to establish a workers' and
farmers' government.

The Chairman. Now, can you tell us more definitely if the principles of the
Communist Party, as advocated in this country, or anywhere else, are the same?

Mr. Foster. Yes.

The Chairman. Does the Communist Party advocate the confiscation of all
private property?

Mr. Foster. The Communist Party advocates the overthrow of the capitalist
system and the confiscation of the social necessities of life; that is, the basic
industries and other industries for producing the means of livelihood for the
peojilc. By the property of individuals, personal belongings, and so on, no; that
is, in the sense of their personal propsrty.

The Chairman. When you refer to the capitalist system, just what do you
mean?

Mr. Foster. I mean the system under which the industries of society are
owned bj' private individuals and are used for the exploitations of the workers
employed in those industries, for the profit of those who own the industries, and
that this system is maintained by the Government as the major central function
of the Government.

The Chairman. Does your party advocate the abolition and destruction of
religious beliefs?

Mr. Foster. Our party considers religion to be the opium of the people, as
Karl Marx has stated, and we carry on propaganda for tlie liquidation of these
prejudices amongst the workers.

The Chairman. To be a member of the Communist Party, do you have to be
an atiieist?

Mr. Foster. In order to be — there is no formal requirement to this effect.
Manj' workers join the Communist Party who still have some religious scruples,
or religious ideas; but a worker who will join the Commvmist Party, who under-
Btaiids the elementary principles of the Communist Party, must n&ccssarily be in
the process of liquidating his religious beliefs and, if he still has any lingeringa
when he joins the party, he will soon get rid of them. But irrcligion, that ia
atheism, is not laid down as a formal requirement for membership in the Com-
munist Party.

The Chairman. Have you been to Russia?

Mr. Fo.sTER. Yes. Eight or nine times.

The Chairman. You are familiar, then, with the workings of the Communist
Party in Russia?

UN-AMERICAN ACTIVITIES AND PROPAGANDA 19

Mr. Foster. Reasonably.

The Chairman. Well, can members of the Communist Party hi Russia be
married In the church and maintain religious beliefs of that nature, and practice
them?

Mr. Foster. My opinion is that a member of the Communist Party of the
Soviet Union who would be married In a church would not be of any value to the
Communist Party.

The Chairman. Could he maintain his membership in the party?

Mr. Foster. He would not.

The Chairman. He would be put out of the party?

Mr. Foster. Eventually, if not for that specific act.

The Chairman. Would it not be the same in this country?

Mr. Foster. As I stated before, workers who would be so imbued with religious
superstitions that they would be married in a church would be of no value to the
Communist Party.

The Chairman. And the same thing would happen to them in this country that
happens to them in Russia?

Mr. Foster. Of course.

The Chairman. Does your party believe in the promotion of class hatred?

Mr. Foster. This is a peculiar question. What do you mean by "class hatred"?

The Chairman. I mean stirring up and exciting class antagonism and hatred
of the working class against the other classes, so called?

Mr. Foster. Our part}' believes in developing the class consciousness of the
workers; to educate the workers to an understanding of their class interests and
to organize them to defend that class interest which, inevitably, brings them into
conflict with the capitalist class in its whole system of ideology.

The Chairman. Do the Communists in this country advocate world revolution?

Mr. Foster. Yes; the Communists in this country realize that America is con-
nected up with the whole world system, and the capitalist system displays the
same characteristics everywhere — everywhere it makes for the misery and exploi-
tation of the workers — and it must be abolished, not only on an American scale
but on a world scale.

The Chairman. So that they do advocate world revolution; and do they advo-
cate revolution in this country?

Mr. Foster. I have stated that the Communists advocate the abohtion of the
capitalist system in this country and every other country; that this must develop
out of the sharpening of the class struggle and the struggle of the workers for
bread and butter.

The Chairman. Now, are the Communists in this countr}"- opposed to our
republican form of government?

Mr. Foster. The capitalist democracy — most assuredly. We stand for a
workers' and farmers' government; a government of producers, not a government
of exploiters. The American capitalist Government is built and controlled in the
interests of those who own the industries, and we say that the Government must
be built and controlled by those who work in the industries and who produce.

The Chairman. They are opposed to our repubhcan form of government?

Mr. Foster. Most assuredly.

The Chairman. And they desire to overthrow it through revolutionary
methods?

Mr. Foster. I would like to read from the program of the Communist Interna-
tional at this point. The Communist International program says

Mr. Bachmann. From what page are you reading?

Mr. Foster. Page 34

"The conquest of power by the proletariat does not mean peaceful capturing
of ready-made bourgeois state machinery by means of a parliamentary majority.
The bourgeoisie resorts to every means of violence and terror to safeguard and
strengthen its predatory property and political domination. Like the feudal
nobility of the past, the bourgeoisie can not abandon its historical position to the
new class without a desperate and frantic struggle; hence the violence of the
bourgeoisie can only be suppressed by the stern violence of the proletariat."

The Chairman. Just what is the Third International?

Mr. Foster. The Communist International is the world party of the Commun-
ist movement.

The Chairman. Is the Communist Partv of the United States connected
with it?

Mr. Foster. It is.

The Chairman. In what way?

Mr. Foster. It is the American section.

20 UN-AMERICAN ACTIVITIES AND PROPAGANDA

The Chairman. You take your orders from the Third International; do you?

Mr. Foster. The question, "Do we take our orders from the Communist
International?" is a question which reveals the utter distance of the capitalist
conception of organization from that of the worker. Tlie Communist Inter-
national is a world party, based upon the mass parties in the respective countries.
It works out its policy by the mass principles of these parties in all its delibera-
tions. It is a party that conducts the most fundamental examination of all
questions that come before it and, when a decision is arrived at in any given
instance, this decision the workers, with their customary sense of proletarian
discipline, accept and put into effect.

The Chairman. Then you do take the orders and carry them out, as decided
in Moscow by the Third international of the Communist Party?

Mr. Foster. I stated it is not a question of taking orders.

The Chairman. Well, putting them into effect?

Mr. Foster. It is a <|ucstion of working out policies with the Comintern, in
the Comintern, as part of this proletarian organization.

The Chair.man. Well, they have to carry out those orders; do they not?

Mr. Foster. Carry out the policies?

The Chairman. Carry out the orders and policies as initiated by the Third
International of the Communist Party over in Moscow?

Mr. Foster. We carry out the policies in the way I have stated.

The Chairman. You i)clicve that by advocating the substitution of the soviet
system of government for the republican form of government you are operating
under the law?

Mr. Foster. I, of course, do not say we derived our theories from the Declara-
tion of Independence, but the Declaration of Independence says that when a
government demonstrates that it no longer represents the interests of the masses
it is not only tlie right but the duty of these masses to dispose of that government
and to establish one that will represent their interests — to abolish that govern-
ment.

The Chairman. That is, what you advocate is a change of our republican form
of government and the substituting of the soviet form of government?

Mr. Foster. I have stated that a number of times.

The Chairman. Now, if I understand you, the workers in this country look
upon the Soviet Union as their country; is that right?

Mr. Foster. The more advanced workers do.

The Chairman. Look upon the Soviet Union as their country?

Mr. Foster. Yes.

The Chairman. They look upon the soviet flag as their flag?

Mr. FcsTER. The workers of this country and the workers of every country
have only one flag and that is the red flag. That is the flag of the proletarian
revolution; it was also, incidentally, the flag of the American Revolution in its
earlier stages. The red flag has been the flag of revolution for many years before
the lvus.sia,n revolution.

The Chairman. Well, the workers of this country consider, then, the Soviet
Government to be their country. Do they also consider the red flag to be their
flag?

Mr. Foster. I have answered quite clearly.

The Chair.man. Do you owe allegiance to the American flag; does the Com-
munist Party owe allegiance to the American flag?

Mr. Foster. The workers, the revolutionary workers, in all tlie capitalist
countries are an oppressed class who are held in subjection by their respective
capitalist governments and their attitude toward these governments is the aboli-
tion of these governments and the establishment of soviet governments.

The Chairman. Well, they do not claim any allegiance, then, to the American
flag in this country?

Mr. Foster. That is, you mean the support of capitalism in America — no.

The Chairman. I mean if they had to choose between the red flag and the
American flag, I take it from you that you would choose the red flag; is that
correct?

Mr. Foster. I have stated my answer.

The Chairman. I do not want to force you to answer if it embarrasses you,
Mr. Foster.

Mr. Foster. It does not embarrass me at all. I stated very clearly the red
flag is the flag of the revolutionary class, and we are part of the revolutionary
class.

The Chairman. I understood that.

UN-AMERICAN ACTIVITIES AND PROPAGANDA 21

Mr. Foster. And all capitalist flags are flags of the capitalist class, and we
owe no allegiance to them.

The Chairman. Well, that answers the question.

(The above testimony of Foster and the history of the Communist
Party are taken from the Fish Report.)

We will turn now to some of the laws of the Communist Interna-
tional. Here is where we find the attempt to disguise the "force and
violence" plans of the Communists. The Program of the Communist
International, printed in English by the Communist Party of the
United States of America, contains the following statement:

Expressing the historical need for an international organization of revolutionary
proletariat — the gravediggers of the capitalist order — the Communist Inter-
national is the only international force that has for its program the dictatorship
of the proletariat and communism, and that openly comes out as the organizer
of the international proletarian revolution. The ultimate aim of the Communist
International is to replace world capitalist economy by a world system of com-
munism.

The conquest of power by the proletariat does not mean peacefully "capturing"
the ready-made bourgeois state machinery by means of a parliamentary majority.
The conquest of power by the proletariat is the violent overthrow of bourgeois
power, the destruction of the capitalist state apparatus (bourgeois, armies, police,
bureaucratic hierarchy, the judiciary, parliament, and so forth), and substituting
in its place new organisms of proletarian power, to serve primarily as the instru-
ments for the suppression of the exploiters.

This document then shows that the Communist program includes
the confiscation of everything and then the setting up of an iron-fisted
bureaucracy of communism.

The dictatorship of the proletariat is a stubborn fight— bloody and bloodless, vio-
lent and peaceful, military and economic, pedagogical and administrative * * *.

The party advances certain transitional slogans and partial demands corre-
sponding to the concrete situation; but these demands and slogans must be bent
to the revolutionary aim of capturing power and of overthrowing bourgeois
capitalist society. The party must neither stand aloof from the daily needs and
struggle of the working class, nor confine its activities exclusively to them. The
task of the party is to utilize these minor everyday needs as a starting point from
which to lead the working class to the revolutionary struggle for power * * *.

The mass action includes a combination of strikes and armed demonstrations,
and finally the general strike conjointly with armed insurrection against the
State power * * *.

It further states that during the "revolutionary upsurge" the

Communist parties must —

advance partial slogans and demands * ♦ *, linking them up with the funda-
mental tasks of the Communist International.

It concludes as follows:

The Communists disdain to conceal their views and aims. They openly declare
that their aims can be attained only by the forcible overthrow of all the existmg
social conditions * * *_ Let the ruling class tremble at a Communist revolu-
tion * * *. Workers of all countries, unite!

The Constitution of the Communist International, also pubhshed

m Enghsh by the Communist Party of the United States of America,

contains the following statements:

The Communist International * * * la a union of Communist parties in
various countries; it is the world Communist Party. As the leader and organizer
of the world revolutionary movement of the proletariat and the protagonist of the

PUBLIC

22 UN-AMERICAN ACTIVITIES AND PROPAGANDA

principles and alms of communism, the Communist International fights for the
establishment of a world union of Socialist soviet republics * * *_

Each of the various parties affiliated with the Communist International la
called the Communist Party of (name and country — section of the Communist
International). Membership In the Communist Party and in the Communist
International is open to all those who accept the program and the rules of the
respective Communist parties and of the Communist International, who * * •
ftbide by all decisions of the party and of the Communist International ♦ * •.

After a decision has been taken by the Communist International ♦ ♦ •
the decision must be unreservedly carried out even if a part of the party mem-
bership or the local party organizations are in disagreement with it.

The decisions of the executive committee of the Communist International are
obligatory for all the sections of the Communist International and must be car-
ried out * * *. The executive committee of the Communist International
has the right to expel from the Communist International entire sections, groups,
and individual members who violate the program and consistitution of the Com-
munist International or the decisions of the executive committee * * *.

In its constitution, the Communist International reserves the above
rights; and, in addition, it states:

The executive committee of the Communist International has the right to
establish permanent bureaus —

in all parts of the world —

for the purpose of establishing closer contact with the various sections of the
Communist International and in order to be better able to guide their work
• * *. The sections must carry out the instructions of the permanent bu-
reaus * * *. I'he executive committee of the Communist International and
Its presidium have the right to send their representatives to various sections of
the Communist International * * *. Such representatives receive their in-
structions from the executive committee of the Communist International or
from its presidium and are responsible to them for their activities.

The executive committee of the Communist International or its presidium also
have the right to send instructors to the various sections of the Communist In-
ternational. The powers and duties of instructors are determined by the execu-
tive committee of the Communist International, to whom the instructors are
responsible in their work.

The central committees of the sections affiliated to the Communist Interna-
tional and the central committees of affiliated sympathizing organizations must
send to the executive committee of the Communist International the minutes of
their meetings and reports of their work.

This control by the Communist International over its sections,
Buch as the Communist Party of the United States of America and
sympathizing organizations, is shown by many laws written into the
constitution of the Communist International, even to the holding of
meetings.

Congresses of the various sections, ordinary and special, can be convened
only with the consent of the executive committee of the Communist Inter-
national * * *.

Members of sections may —
pass from one country to another —

only with the consent of the central committee.

This committee had indisputable evidence to prove the admission
of Communists that the Communist Party of the United States of
America is a section of the Communist International at Moscow, and
that the international does issue special decrees to the sections in this
country, and that the sections here have carried out those decrees.
(See ^iilestones in the History of the Communist Party of the United
States of America.)

The Communist Party of the United States of America adopted
what it called a "new constitution" for the American section to its ]\Iay

UN-AMERICAN ACTIVITIES AND PROPAGANDA 23

1938 congress, held in New York City. This, Communists called
Twentieth Century Americanism. The following statement is to be
found in this constitution:

The new constitution is profoundly connected with the pohtical life of America
and is realizing in practice the instructions of Comrade Dimitrov (international
secretary of the Commimist International), who called on us at the Seventh
World Congress of the Communist International to learn as quickly as possible
how to sail on the turbulent waters of class struggle * * *,

The emblem of the party shall be the crossed hammer and sickle * * *
with a circular inscription, having at the top "Communist Party of the U. S. A.,"
and in the lower part "affiliated to the Communist International * * *."

The Communist Party of the United States of America is affiliated with its
fraternal Communist parties of other lands through the Communist International
and participates in international congresses, through its national committee,
* * *. Resolutions and decisions of the international congress shall be
acted upon by the supreme authority of the Communist Party of the United
States of America, the national conventions, or between conventions, by the
national committee.

At the Communist congress, held in New York City, at which this
new "Trojan horse" constitution was adopted, resolutions were also
adopted, one of which, in the form of a cable to Moscow which stated
(Imprecor, No. 32, June 25, 1938, pp. 769-770):

The tenth national convention laid down as the most important task for the
party the further struggle for united action of all forces of the working class, for
the purpose of securing joint action of all democratic elements of the country.
The convention indicated the concrete forms of the struggle for unity of the work-
ing class; in the first place to overcome the split in the trade-union movement in
the United States of America, by creating a uniform confederation of labor. The
convention formulated the program of the democratic front, the program of unit-
ing the American people.

A few days later, the "Trojan horse" made its appearance again
when the Commimists began explaining why now they were singing
the Star-Spangled Banner and using American flags, along with the
Internationale (the Communist song) and red flags. Here is their
explanation:

[Daily Worker, July 4, 1938]

When we sing the Star-Spangled Banner and the Internationale together, when
we decorate our platform today with the American flag and the red flag of the
Socialist revolution * * * this is the way we express the fusion of our Com-
munist program for socialism and the American tradition.

This recalls to the minds of members of this committee the instruc-
tions of the Communist International "to learn as quicldy as possible
how to sail on the turbulent waters of class struggle" and their
attempted remolding of the Communist Party into something which
might appear too smaU as an "American front." Communists are
merely carrying out the instructions of the Commimist International
made public at the last internatiotial Congress to adopt the "Trojan
horse" methods. This is explained by the Communist International
in the followmg statement:

The above statement was made by George Dimitrov in an address
to the seventh congress of the Communist International, held in
Moscow on August 20, 1935. It may be found in The Working

24 UN-AMERICAN ACTIVITIES AND PROrAGANDA

Class Unity Bulwark Against Fascism, printed by the Workers'
Library Publishers.

The Communist Party explained the real meaning of this when it
eaid:

The tenth national convention of the Communist Party of the United States of
America sends its wannest revohitionary greetings to the Communist International
and its helmsman, George Dimitrov, true conirade-in-arms of Stalin, leader of the
struggle against fascism and war, hero of all anti-Fascists, hero and leader of the
working class.

We have learned from you how to rekindle that fire. We have learned from you
how to fuse the internationalism of our socialist heritage with the best traditions
of the revolutionary patriots of past history.

The international working class under your leadership is building unity * * *^
and at the head of the forces of peace stands the Soviet Union, the socialist
country. * * * Qur convention pledges to you and to the Communist
International our steadfast determination to be worthy of the model you have
set for us * * * the goal of the leadership of Marx, Engols, Lenin, and
Stalin — the winning of a socialist world * * *."— (Daily Worker, June 1,
1938, official organ of the Communist Party of the United States of America.)

IV. Communist Party of the United States of America

(A) CONTROL BY COMMUNIST INTERNATIONAL

It was established, through reputable witnesses who submitted
unimpeachable and voluminous evidence, a portion to which we will
refer in each instance, that the Communist Party of the United
States of America is a section of the Communist (Third) Interna-
tional which has its international headquarters in Moscow. This
connection was not only shown by original copies of the membership
books (1938) of the Communist Party of the United States of America,
on which the words "The Communist Party of the United States of
America, section of the Communist International" appear, as if
water-marked on each page, but also by the words, "Communist
Party of the ITnitcd States of America is a section of the Communist
International." This statement appears in the editorial heads of the
official organs published in the United States bj^ the Communist
Party in the United States of America, and it is emphasized in most
of their literature.

It was also established, through witnesses who presented authentic
evidence, particularly the Communist Party Manual on Organiza-
tion and Milestones in the History of the Communist Party, in
addition to other Communist documents, that those joining the Com-
munist Party of the United States of America not only join the Com-
munist Party as a unit, but also as a section of the Third International
The following statement appears on the 1938 membership card of the
Communist Partv, originals of which were introduced as evidence
before the Committee:

The undersigned declares his adherence to the program and statutes of the
Communist International and of the Communist Party of the United States of
America, and agrees to submit to the discipline of the party and to engage actively
in its work.

On page 42 of the Communist Party Manual on Organization,
pubhshed by the Communist Party of the United States of America
for circulation among its members, the following statement may be
found:

UN-AMERICAN ACTIVITIES AND PROPAGANDA 25

The Communist International is the international organization of the Com-
munist Parties in all countries. It is the world Communist Party. The Com-
munist Parties in the various countries, affiliated with the Comintern (Communist
International), are called sections of the Communist International.

On page 43 of this same document, this statement is made:

The decisions of the executive committee of the Communist International are
binding for all parties belonging to the Comintern (Communist International),
and must be promptly carried out.

Pages 8 and 9 of the manual contain this statement:

As the leader and organizer of the proletariat, the Communist Party of the
United States of America leads the working class in the fight for the revolutionary
overthrow of capitalism, for the establishment of the dictatorship of the prole-
tariat, for the establishment of a socialist soviet republic in the United States.
* * * Our party realizes that certain conditions must exist before the outworn
capitalist system can be overthrown.

For a revolution it is essential that a majority of the workers, not a majority
of the people as they would lead you to believe they mean, should fully understand
the necessity for revolution and be ready to sacrifice their lives for it; secondly,
that the ruling classes, not the class to which they usually refer as capitalists, be
in a state of crisis which draws even the most backward masses into politics,
weakens the government and makes possible for the revolutionists to overthrow
it rapidly.

It continues on pages 12, 13, and 14:

The state is an instrument in the hands of the ruling class for suppressing the
resistance of its class enemies. In this respect the dictatorship of the proletariat
in no way differs, in sense, from the dictatorship of any other class * * *
The dictatorship of the proletariat cannot be "complete" democracy, a democracy
for all * * * Pure democracy — "perfect" democracy — and the like are but
bourgeois screens * * * Ti^e revolutionary overthrow of the capitalist sys-
tem is the historic mission of the working class.

As a section of the Third International, the Communist Party of
the United States of America entered into an agreement entitled
"Twenty-one Conditions of Admission Into the Communist Inter-
national," by O. Piantnitsky. It was published in this country by the
Communist Party and circulated among members of the party, states:

1. The entire propaganda and agitation must bear a genuinely communistic
character and agree with the program and the decisions of the Third Interna-
tional. All the press organs of the party must be managed by responsible Com-
munists who have proved their devotion to the cause of the proletariat.

The dictatorship of the proletariat must not be talked about as if it were an
ordinary formula learned by heart, but it must be propagated for in such a way
as to make its necessity apparent to every plain worker, soldier, and peasant
through the facts of daily life, which must be systematically watched by our press
and fully utilized from day to day * * *

2. Every organization that wishes to affiliate with the Communist International
must regularly and svstematically remove the reformist and centrist elements
from all the more or less important posts in the labor movements (in party organi-
zations, editorial offices, trade unions, parliamentary groups, cooperative, and
municipal administrations) and replace' them with well-tried Communists, with-
out taking offense at the fact that, especially in the beginning, the places of
experienced opportunists will be filled by plain workers from the masses * * *

It is their duty to create everywhere a parallel illegal organization machme
which at the decisive moment will be helpful to the party in fulfilling its duty to
the revolution * * * .,.,-.• j.

4. The duty of spreading Communist ideas includes the special obligation to
carry on a vigorous and systematic propaganda in the Army. Where this agitation
is forbidden by exceptional laws it is to be carried on illegally. Renunciation of
such activities would be the same as treason to revolutionary duty and would be
incompatible with membership in the Third International * * *

6. Every party that wishes to belong to the Third International is obligated
to unmask not only open social patriotism, but also the dishonesty and hypocrisy
of social pacifism, and systematically bring to the attention of the workers the

26 UN-AMERICAN ACTIVITIES AND PROPAGANDA

fact that without the revolutionary overthrow of capitalism, no kind of an
international court of arbitration, no kind of an agreement regarding the limita-
tion of armaments, no kind of a democratic innovation of the League of Nations
will be able to prevent fresh imperialistic wars * * *

9. Every party wishing to belong to the Communist International must syste-
matically and persistently develop a communistic agitation within the trade-
unions, the workers' and shop councils the consumers' cooperatives, and other
mass organizations of the workers * * *

10. Every j)arty wishing to belong to the Communist International is oijligated
to offer unciualifiod support to every soviet republic in its struggle against the
counterrevolutionary forces. The Communist Parties must carry on a clean-cut
program of propaganda for the hindering of the transportation of munitions of
war to the enemies of the Soviet Republic; and, furthermore, they must all use
means, legal or illegal, to carry propaganda, etc., among the troops sent to throttle
the workers' republic * * *

As a rule the program of every party belonging to the Communist International
nmst be sanctioned by the regular congress of the Communist International or
by its executive committee. * * *

16. All decisions of the congresses of the Communist International as well as
the decisions of its executive committee, are binding upon all the parties belonging
to the Communist International. The Communist International, wliich is work-
ing under conditions of the most acute civil war, must be constructed along much
more centralized lines than was the case with the Second International. * * *

17. In connection with this, all parties wishing to belong to the Communist
International must change their names. Every party wishing to belong to the
Communist International must bear the name Communist Party of sucli and sucii
a country (section of the Third International). The question of name is not only
a formal matter, but is to a high degree a political question of great import-
ance. * * *

21. Those party members who, on principle, reject the conditions and theses
laid down by the Communist International are to be expelled from the party.
The same thing applies especially to delegates to the special part\' convention.

We have shown the connection between the Communist Party of
the United States of America and the Third International, and that
the Communist Party of the United States of America is bound by
the hiws of the Third International.

(b) Present-Day Tactics

We have shown that communism is a world-wide revohitionary
movement aiming ultimately at the setting up of a world union of
soviet socialist republics. This is a proposition which is beyond
dispute. It is substantiated by voluminous literature of the Com-
munists themselves.

In this plan for world revolution, the Communists have omitted no
country or people as too small or insignificant to command their
attention. They have, on the other hand, taken the logical position
of concentrating their attention upon the richest and most populous
countries of the earth. Among these the Communists recognize the
United States of America as tlie foremost. The Conmiunist's con-
quest of the earth will be far less than complete until it has conquered
America and destroyed our free institutions.

It follows logically from the Communist International's plan of
world conquest that every possible tactic, device, maneuver, and
intrigue would be employed to gain such an end as the communiza-
tion of America. These tactics, devices, maneuvers, and intrigues
are both boldy open and patiently subtle, both violent and insidious.
The tactics and maneuvers for revolutionary ends are the meat and
drink of a Communist. They are the very air he breathes.

UN-AMERICAN ACTIVITIES AND PROPAGANDA 27

This committee has received voluminous and substantial evidence
both in the form of authentic Communist literature and in the form
of testimony from those who have been active in the Communist
movement. This evidence has turned the spotlight of publicity upon
Communist tactics, devices, maneuvers, and intrigues to such an
extent that the whole American people is better acquainted with the
nature and purposes of communism than it was at the beginning of
the work of this committee.

Many of these tactics deserve some elaboration in this report.

1. Trojan Hokse Tactics

In 1935 the Communists changed their strategy and tactics to what
is now loiown as the "Trojan Horse tactics." Georgi Dimitrov, in an
address to the Seventh Congress of the Communist International,
held in Moscow in August 1935, said:

Comrades, you remember the ancient tale of the capture of Troy. Troy was
inaccessible to the armies attacking her, thanks to her impregnable walls, and
the attacking army, after suffering many sacrifices, was unable to achieve victory
until with the aid of the famous Trojan horse it managed to penetrate to the very
heart of the enemies' camp. We revolutionary workers, it appears to me, should
not be shy about using the same tactics. — (Printed by the Workers Library
Publishers, New York City, a Communist publishing house, in reporting the full
text of Dimitrov's addresses to the Congress of the Communist International,
July 25 to August 21, 1935.)

The new tactics have proven to be very effective and successful.
Instead of conducting labor organizations of their own, as they form-
erly did, the Communists have found it much more effective to pene-
trate legitimate trade unions and to seize strategic positions and offices
in those unions. Under the new policy, the Communists form units
or fractions within labor unions especially in the heavy industries.
These units work in complete unison and harmony under instructions.
Their members were well tramed in organizing work. In addition
to this, they are actuated by a fanatical zeal. When the industrial
unions sprang up like mushroom growths in the heavy industries,
there was a scarcity of trained and skilled organizers. Having
permeated the organizations, the Communists stepped into the roles
of organizers and found it easy to seize strategic positions in the unions.
Many of the Communists became organizers, stewards, and members
of the executive boards.

The same tactics of penetration or "boring from within" were used
successfully in other organizations, such as poKtical parties. Formerly
the Communists had their own candidates and their own ticket which
they actively and openly supported. Now the Communists either
do not put up candidates or, if they do, it is for the purpose of decep-
tion. Actually the Communists actively support "left wing" ele-
ments in other pohtical parties.

Not only do the Communists penetrate other organizations, but
they set up numerous organizations with high-sounding titles and
laudable objectives. These are known as the "front" organizations
of the Conunimist Party. The majority of members of these organiza-
tions are unaware of the Communist control or influence, but we in-
variably find outstandmg Communists occupying strategic positions
within the organizations. From these vantage points they are able

28 UN-AMERICAN ACTIVITIES AND PROPAGANDA

to subtly shape or influence the policies of the "front" organizations
and direct their activities. The ease with which Communists are
able to infiltrate these organizations and seize important positions
would be unbelievable if we did not have before us the most con-
vincing proof. The explanation is that many of the non-Communist
members are inactive and indifferent while the tightly organized
group of Communists within the organization arc well organized and
fanatically zealous. It is the old story of a well-organized minority
being able to outmaneuver an unorganized and indifferent majority.
Herein is typified the genius of Connnunist strategy. They have sim
ply put into effect what has been demonstrated time and time again;
namely, that an active and disciplined minority is always able to
outmaneuver a disorganized majority. The Conunimist influence
in the United States cannot, therefore, be measured by its size. The
Commuiust program does not call for large numbers. When the Com-
munists seized control of Russia they comprised less than 1 percent
of the population of Russia.

Their real influence must be measured in terms of their ability to
direct or influence other organizations and groups who have many
times the membership that the Communist Party claims. The eflec-
tiveness of the Connnunists in the United States must be gaged by
their ability to infuse the poison of class hatred into the blood stream
of the Nation. It is not the open and undisguised activity of the
Communists that we Jieed fear. It is not their direct influence which
should occasion alarm. It is rather the subversive and insidious way
in which they go about their destructive work; the penetration of
other organizations; the seizure of strategic positions in other organi-
zations and in the Government itself; the subtle and indirect in-
fluence wliich they exert — these are the things wiiich constitute the
Communist menace to America. If the Communists worked in the
open there would be nothing to fear, but when through policies of
deception and tactics that are cleverl}- concealed they pursue their
destructive plans, it becomes important to reckon with them as
menacing factors in our national life. Many of the activities and
tactics of the Communists appear ridiculous to the average American
and, by reason of this fact, he is prone to discredit the seriousness of
these activities. He is apt to overlook the important fact that the
minds of most Communists are diseased and that their thinking and
process of reason are fantastic and often border on insanity. Indeed
the very philosophy of conmiunism is fantastic and unreal. There is
notlmig in the experience or reason of man to justify it; it is the
product of mental warping. It is, therefore, natural that minds
which can seriously entertain such a destructive philosophy, and such
an unreasonable conception of man in the iniiverse, should bo produc-
tive of fantastic schemes and activities. It is strange but true that
this irrationalism affords the Communists their most efl'ective guise
because the average American is inclined to "laugh it. off." The
Communist is cunning enough to take advantage of this attitude on
our part so that he may prosecute his subversive work unmolested.

2. Ethics

It is impossible to understand many of the tactics and statements
of Communists and their fellow travelers unless their very special
code of ethics be understood. Communists repudiate in its entirety

UN-AMERICAN ACTIVITIES AND PROPAGANDA 29

the Christian code of ethics and indeed any other code of ethics
which has appealed to the decent sentiment of manldnd.

Lenin summarized the Communist ethical code when he said:

Our morality is entirely subordinated to the interest of the class struggle of the
proletariat. * * * For the Communist, morality consists entirely of compact
united discipline and conscious mass struggle against the exploiters. We do not
believe in eternal morality, and we expose all the fables about morality. — (Lenin's
Speech to Youth, International Publishers, 1936, pp. 13, 16.)

In practical terms, this means that the individual Communist's
ethical judgment is rigidly subordinated to the will of the Communist
Party, and the will of the Commimist Party is in turn whatever its
most poUtically powerful member decides it shall be. It means,
furthermore, that Communist morality is subordinated to the main
goal which is the destruction, in this country, of the American form
of government and the setting up in its place of the proletarian
dictatorship. In both its theory and its practice, the Communist
code of ethics says that truth, respect for law, and tolerance must
give way to class advantage. The Communists have put the world
on notice that their word, whether under oath or not, has no value
whatsoever.

The Communist code of ethics not only permits, but actually
glorifies as virtuous, such immorahties as perjury, destruction of
property, the beating and maiming of workers who refuse to follow
the dictates of Communists, shootings, stabbings, kidnapings, and
bombings. It is even a matter of boasting among Communists that
Stalin robbed banks in the days before the Communist regime was
Bet up in Russia.

To summarize: The Communist code of ethics is based upon the
principle that the ends of revolution justify any means, no matter
now lawless, violent, dishonest, or indecent from the standpoint of
accepted American standards of moraUty.

3. Use of Civil Liberties To Destroy Liberties

Communists make a great deal of noise about their civil hberties
in this country, despite the evidence that no other country on the
face of the earth is so devoid of aU civil liberties as Russia, the country
to which Communists look for inspiration and from which they take
their instructions.

We have only to quote from the Communists' own authoritative
writings to prove that the Communist conception of civil liberties is
diametrically opposed to the American view. In his book. The State
and Revolution, Lenin wrote:

The dictatorship of the proletariat produces a series of restrictions of liberty
In the case of oppressors, the exploiters, and the capitalists. We crush them in
order to free humanity from wage-slavery; their resistance must be broken by
force. — (The State and Revolution, p. 73.)

In his book, Two Tactics, the supreme author of the Russian revo-
lution, Lenin, wrote:

In the final analysis, force alone can settle the great problems of political
liberty and class struggle, and it is our business to prepare and organize thia
force and to use it actively, not only for defensive purposes, but also for the
purpose of attack. — (Two Tactics, p. 21.)

In summary, it is clear that Communists are interested in the civil
Eberties which are guaranteed by the American BiU of Rights only

H. Kept. 2, 76-1 3

30 UN-AMERICAN ACTIVITIES AND PROPAGANDA

that they may use these rights as a tool with which to destroy all
civil liberties.

4. The Use of the Red-Baiting Charge Against Critics

In the experiences of this committee, notliing could be clearer than,
that Communists hate the light of publicity, which exposes their aims
and methods. A recent editorial in the Daily Worker, official news-
paper of the Communist Party, demands that the work of this com-
mittee to investigate un-American activities must not go on. Com-
munists have good reasons to fear criticism which focuses the attention
of the American people upon their sinister purposes and reprehensible
methods.

Communism will not be able to advance one step in the face of a
fearless and complete exposure of its true nature.

The most common device used by Communists in their attempts to
silence all criticism is to charge their critics with "red" baiting. It
appears that a few spineless Americans who like to tliink of them-
selves as liberals, cower before the Communist charge of "red" baiting.
To that extent, the tactics of charging "red" baiting is effective.
As one of the witnesses who appeared before this committee put it,
"A twentieth century American 'Uberal' would rather face the charge
of slapping his grandmother than to be accused of 'red' baiting."

There is hardl}'' any limit to the campaigns of smearing and ridicule
which Communists organize systematically and on a large scale for the
purpose of trying to discredit any American who dares to stand up and
criticize communism.

6. In Political Coalitions

In the former tactics of the Communist Party it was the invariable
rule to place its own unmistakably labeled candidates before the
electorate. It was easy then for the voter to make his choice between
Communist and non-Communist candidates. Today, however, there
are new tactics. The Communist Party has adopted the practice of
boring from within the major political parties. It presents its candi-
dates to the public \vith Democratic and Repubhcan labels, with
grave political confusion resulting.

It is one of the major aims of the Communist International, in the
present world situation, to form what are called People's Fronts.
In both Spain and France this aim has been achieved, with conse-
quences kno\vn to all the world. This same aim dominates the present
strategy of the Commmiist Party in the United States, and it is
toward the formation of the People's Front here that the Communists
have adopted the practice of entering their political candidates with
the labels of the two major parties.

The strategy of the Communist Party looks toward the eventual
formation of a national farmer-labor party in the United States.
While remaining a relatively small minority witliin such a farmer-labor
party, the Communists would nevertheless seek to dominate the
whole of it. The tlieory behind such political coaUtions is to divide
American political thought along class lines, with the avowed object
of intensifying and embittering class conflict. All of this the Com-
munists conceive to be a necessary prelude to class warfare and the
final emergence of its dictatorship of the proletariat.

un-a:merican activities and propaganda 31

The Communist Party aims especially at the disintegration and
final destruction of liberal pohtical parties by making within those
parties a coalition with political elements which are working for a
planned economy even though they do not use any one of the European
labels for such economy.

6. IN FEDERAL PROJECTS AND AGENCIES

Our committee devoted considerable time to the investigation of
certain phases of the Works Progress Administration, such as the
Federal Theater Project and the Federal Writers Project.

We heard some of the employees and former employees in the Federal
Theater Project in New York. These witnesses testified that Com-
munistic activities have been carried on in the Federal Theater Project
for a long time; that Communist meetings have been held on the
project during work hours; that some of the employees had partici-
pated in these Communist meetings during their work hours; that
Communist literature had been distributed on the project from time to
time, and that Communist posters had been printed on the official
bulletin board; that all of these activities had been carried on in the
premises of the Federal Theater Project and during the very time that
the employees were paid to work. From the testimony we heard, we
are convinced that a rather large number of the employees on the
Federal Theater Project are either members of the Communist Party,
or are sympathetic ^\ath the Communist Partv. It is also clear that
certain employees felt under compulsion to join the Workers' Alliance
in order to retain their jobs.

To illustrate the success of Communist penetration in the Federal
Writers Project, we wish to cite one instance. The committee re-
ceived m evidence a book entitled "People's Front," by Earl Browder,
which had been autographed by 103 avowed Communist Party mem-
bers who were w^orking on a Federal Writers Project, 6 of whom held
positions as supervisors on the project. The total number of em-
ployees on this Writers Project was about 300. It is therefore
astonishing to find that one-third of the total number of writers
employed by the Government in this project were admitted Com-
munists. We think that the explanation of the thoroughness with
which the Communists have penetrated the Federal Writers Project is
that they recognized this project as a splendid vehicle for the dissemi-
nation of class hatreds. The evidence is very conclusive that Com-
munist activities were carried on openly in the Federal Writers Project.
Even Henry Alsberg admitted on the witness stand that he had had
considerable trouble with Communist activities in the Writers Project.
He did not deny that a substantial jiumber of the total employees
were admitted Communists, and that they had been very active on
the project, but Mr. Alsberg stated that he did everything within his
power to stop these activities.

^Vhen it is considered that much of our evidence with reference to
Communist activities in the Works Progress Admmistration consists
of documentary proof, and the testimony of employees, it must be
admitted that the committee received a very accurate picture with
reference to the extent of Communist activities in these projects of
the Works Progress Administration.

The committee secured galley^ proofs of the guide books for New
Jersey and Montana. The chairman read mto the record excerpts

32 UN-AMERICAN ACTIVITIES AND PROPAGANDA

from some of these galley proofs to illustrate the subtlety and clever-
ness which the Communists tried to use to disseminate class-hatred
propaganda through the medium of State guides. While the com-
mittee does not have jurisdiction to condemn ordinary propaganda
which appears in Government publications, it does have jurisdiction
to expose and condemn class-hatred propaganda which forms an
important part of the general strategy of the Communist Party. A
great deal of the material sent from Montana and New Jersey Federal
Writers Projects to the Works Progress Administration in Washmg-
ton, D. C, reveal a couvsistent and clever plan of using the guidebooks
to disseminate class hatred. We refer the readers of this report to
some of the excerpts wliich we placed in the record which show that
there was a well-organized plan to portray certain classes in an
unfavorable light, and to portray other classes in the most favorable
manner possible. Since the foundation of Communism is class hatred,
and since their principal strategy is the promotion of class hatred, it
became very pertinent to our mquiry to determine the extent the
Communists in the Federal Writers Project and Federal Theater
Project had succeeded in emphasizmg the class-struggle angle in the
preparation of State-guide material.

Mr. Henry G. Alsberg, who was very frank with the committee,
admitted that some of this material which had been received from the
State offices was calculated to promote class hatred and he assured the
committee that before the final publication of the State guide books
all material of this kind would be deleted, and that the State guide
books would present a fair and impartial picture.

The testimony of some of the employees of the Washington office
of the Federal Writers Project indicate that certain officials were
aiding and abetting the plan to use the State guides as vehicles for
class-hatred propaganda. It must be remembered that these officials
were very close to the administration of the Federal Writers Project;
and that they testified with reference to conversations which they had
heard, and produced copies of letters from official files.

Mrs. Louise Lazell testffied that before she went with the Federal
Writers Project, she had spent 1 year from September 1935 to Septem-
ber 1936, in the Democratic National Committee, where she wrote
speeches and gave out information for the women's division; that she
was transferred from there to Stanley High's Good Neighbor League;
that Mrs. Woodward asked her to become associated with the Federal
Writers Project about 14 months ago, where she has been ever since.
She further testified:

She (Mrs. Woodward) felt that I would read impartially. I had experience
as a publisher's reader and as a writer mj'self, and she told me because of the
grave criticism of the Massachusetts Guide in connection with the Sacco-Vanzelli
case, because they had given a partisan slant to it, she wL^hcd me to read very
carefully all the publications of the Writers Project from that time on, which I
have done.

The Chairman. What was there about the version of the Sacco-Vanzetli case
that she considered partisan?

Mrs. Lazell. The comment in the end. I understood at the time I took over
it was all right to have a report on any event, but that our books, as Government
publications, should refrain from editorializing; that is, giving a point of view for
or against.

The Chairman. What point of view did that article give?

Mrs. Lazell. It is published, and anyone can see it, but it was quite evidently
partisan against the Government, as it were, and it was a Government publication.

The Chairman. That is, it^was in favor of Sacco and Vauzetti?

UN-A^IERICAN ACTIVITIES AND PROPAGANDA 33

Mrs. Lazell. Yes.

The Chairman. Representing that they had not gotten a square deal?

Mrs. Lazell. I believe in phraseology which made it seem like a Communist
comment. Then I have had repeatedlj' to delete phraseology that would other-
wise make The Guide look very partisan.

The Chairman. I will get to that in a moment. You have been with the
Federal Writers Project how long?

Mrs. Lazell. Fourteen months.

The Chairman. What are your duties?

Mrs. Lazell. Reading for policy. In addition to that, Mr. Alsberg has asked
me to comment, if I felt the publication itself was not up to par in a literary waj%
because I am supposed to have some literary judgment as well.

The Chairman. Do you have authority to delete any portion of it?

Mrs. Lazell. I have authority to recommend the deletion. Mr. Alsberg re-
tains the right of final judgment.

The Chairman. During the time that you have been engaged in that work,
have you seen any instances of an effort to place in the Guide Communist teach-
ings, or phraseology?

Mrs. Lazell. Yes.

The Chairman. I will ask you in your own language to give us instances of that.
But first, tell us what the Guide is.

Mrs. Lazell. The Guide is an experiment in giving a guidebook for tourists to
every State in the Union. In addition to that it has essays which cover history,
archeology, labor, commerce, etc. The labor essays almost always had to be
toned down.

The Chairman. Who first prepares the Guide for a particular State?

Mrs. Lazell. Local people do.

The Chairman. You mean the local people on the Federal Writers Project?

Mrs. Lazell. The State office. In many cases the State office material has
been perfectly acceptable and they have been told to add material.

The Chairman. We will get to that in a minute.

Mrs. Lazell. The State office prepares the material first. It comes to the
Washington office. There is a great deal of rewriting done there, a great deal of
insertions, and some deletions.

The Chairman. So that the Federal Writers' Project for New York, will send
material from the offices in New York?

Mrs. Lazell. Just a moment. The Federal Writers' Project of New York
has been acting as an independent unit except for Mr. Henry Alsberg's control.
It has not gone through the Federal headquarters here except that Mr. Alsberg
has read it and he has sent it to me for comment.

The Chairman. With the exception of New York, every State office of the
Federal Writers' Project send its material to Washington?

Mrs. Lazell. Yes.

The Chairman. And Washington rewrites it?

Mrs. Lazell. A great deal.

The Chairman. Will you tell us in your own language just what you have seen
with reference to the deletion of material or the addition of material by the editor
on the Federal Writers' Project here in Washington?

Mrs. Lazell. In most cases the deletion is warrantable in that they send too
much material or not well-arranged material. In many cases the insertions have
been such that I have had to quarrel with them.

The Chairman. Explain to us what has been the character of these insertions?

Mrs. Lazell. For instance, insertions in the New Jersey Guide; I wish to give
this as an instance of the increasing diflSculty that I have of reading for policy.
The New Jersey Guide, which naturally would be a very controversial piece of
literature, was assembled in the spring. In that case the State people put a great
deal of material in that I felt would not be permissible in a nonpartisan Govern-
ment publication. I took the matter up with Mr. Alsbert so strenuously that I
stated to him that if it came out in that form I was afraid it would be the last
guide we would publish. He took my criticism, as he has up till now, and acted
upon it, in that he sent a very able editor up to New Jersey to rewrite the ma-
terial. It came back and received my 0. K. I heard nothing more about it for
sometime.

The Chairman. You have not said what those insertions were. Give us some

idea of them. . ■■, ±1 i. -j.

Mrs. Lazell. In speaking of one commercial organization it said that it was
the biggest buyer of tear gas in the State. It has never used any tear gas and in
one little strike that they had only sticks and stones were thrown. But I think

34 UN-AMERICAN ACTIVITIES AND PROPAGANT>A

the implication was that it was holding a cellar full of tear gaa in reserve. I
thouglit that was not the sort of thing that was a factual story.

The Chairman. Can you give us some other instances of insertions?

Mrs. Lazell. These were not insertions, because the New Jersey people are
quite radical in their expressions.

The Chairman. What other statements did you notice in the material sent
In by New Jersey?

Mrs. Lazell. I believe I have some of it here. I do not want to quote from
memory, because, after all, memory is not so good. I believe I have some of the
material here. Some of these were not communistic; some were attacks on Mr.
Hague. I am trying to be impartial and wipe out any hearsay stuff about any-
body. You see, my reading is not pro-Fascist, pro-Communist or pro anything
except a decent government manuscript. So at one place it said this about
"our friend Hague": "He can at will produce a Democratic majority of more
than 125,000 in Hudson County."

As I say, that was hearsay and not factual material for a guide.

Now, I also deleted other stuff, communistic things.

The Chairman. Have you got any instance of the communistic material;
can you tell us any instances of that?

Mrs. Lazell. I will try to find something. Unfortunately at this time I
was having so much work to do I did not always write in complete quotes. I
only said "Please delete from here to here." But I will try to find something.

The Chairman. I will just ask you this question. Were there communistic
statements in the material sent from New Jersey that you were employed to
delete?

Mrs. Lazell. Yes; and which the separate editors agreed with me was dyna-
mite. They were perfectly willing to cooperate with me.

The Chairman. These statements were appeals to class hatred?

Mrs. Lazell. Yes.

The Chairman. Inflammatory statements?

Mrs. Lazell. Inflammatory statements.

The Chairman. Did any of them go so far as to advocate revolution?

Mrs. Lazell. No.

The Chairman. Did any of them go so far as to advocate a complete change
in our system of government?

Mrs. Lazell. No; only criticism; no, they would not go that far.

Mr. Mason. Would you say the tenor of them was communistic propaganda?

Mrs. Lazell. Incendiary rather than definite communistic propaganda. Here
is something from California that is quite explicit.

The Chairman. I will get to that m a moment.

Mrs. Lazell. I wish to make this final statement on the New Jersey situation.
While I have seen the Tours with the insertions and have made some comments,
the rest of the New Jersey copy, with many insertions made by Mr. Coy, has gone
up to the publisher without my seeing it, which is unusual. I suppose they will
show it to me later and say that they were in a hurry or something. But I usually
see it before it goes into the stage where it is now.

The Chairman. Would you say that any of the material as finally approved by
the Washington office or by Mr. Alsberg constituted appeals to class hatred?

Mrs. Lazell. Yes; definitely.

The Chairman. When you recommended that certain portions be deleted, was
that recommendation acted favorably upon every time?

Mrs. Lazell. So far; yes.

The Chairman. So far as what?

Mrs. Lazell. I mean so far as today, yes, but — I want to give you a "Yee,
but — " before I am through, and then I have given alL because I can only speak
of policy, and not of what is happening In general I have got a "Yea, but — '
that I think is a very strong "Yes. but — ."

The Chairman. TeU me what that "Yes, but—" is.

Mrs. Lazell. California.

The Chairman. I am going to get to that In a moment. Has Mr. Alsberg
placed insertions in the material from New Jersey?

Mrs. Lazell. I think Mr. Coy has done it.

The Chairman. Do you know whether he has done it upon more than one
occasion?

Mrs. Lazell. Yes: there were a number of them.

The Chairman. Have you seen that material with the insertions?

Mrs. Lazell. I have seen one insertion which I did not like because I thought
It was incendiary, but I have not seen the whole of it because it was not sent t»
my desk. Mrs. Shreve has seen it, because it goes by her desk.

UN-AMERICAN ACTIVITIES AND PROPAGANDA 35

The Chairman. Would you go so far as to say that the tenor of the Guide
from New Jersey has been class hatred and incendiary propaganda?

Mrs. Lazell. Yes.

The Chairman. And would you say that that propaganda would have the
effect of starting up class hatreds?

Mrs. Lazell. I should think it would; at least they expect it to.

The Chairman. Did that Guide invariably condemn business and industry?

Mrs. Lazell. Yes.

The Chairman. And picture them as pro-Fascist?

Mrs. Lazell. As being the enemy.

The Chairman. As being the enemy of the masses of the people?

Mrs. Lazell. Yes.

The Chairman. In other words, the material always took a partisan slant?

Mrs. Lazell. Yes.

The Chairman. In favor of organized labor, we will say?

Mrs. Lazell. Yes.

The Chairman. The C. I. O. particularly?

Mrs. Lazell. Well, not the C. I. O., but I should say more the radical element in
the C. I. O.

The Chairman. The radical element In the C. I. O. was championed in this
Guide?

Mrs. Lazell. Yes.

The Chairman. While the business people and industrial classes were pictured
as enemies of the mass of the people.

Mrs. Lazell. Yes, sir. I wish you would subpena the Viking Press. They
have the galleys which have just been sent to them.

The Chairman. Do you know about Mr. Coy having inserted inflammatory or
incendiary statements?

Mrs. Lazell. I have seen only one copy of this. I have been told so, and it
is in Hne of what I have seen of insertions in other things.

The Chairman. Now, we have dealt with New Jersey: What has been the
case in New York?

Mrs. Lazell. So far they have written only the New York panorarna. There
were one or two instances where my strictures were accepted. That is so far as
the manuscript has come along, but I do not know how long that will continue.

The Chairman. Have you found, or do you know as a fact, that Mr. Coy and
Mr. Alsberg, at the headquarters of the Federal Writers Project, have shaped
their material for propaganda purposes?

Mrs. Lazell. Yes, sir.

The Chairman. Against business and against industry as a class?

Mrs. Lazell. Yes, sir; and against the Government.

The Chairman. Against the Government itself?

Mrs. Lazell. Yes, sir.

The Chairman. While you have been successfully deleting a great deal of
that, has some of it been passed over your objection?

Mrs. Lazell. There are some I cannot absolutely remove. For instance,
there was something about criminal syndicalism that was taken out of the Iowa
Guide. There was something about the criminal syndicalism law of Iowa which
is of particular interest to people who want to destroy the Government. We have
have had them wire back that they insisted that we put it back, and we spent
several weeks trying to soften it. So far it has received no comment.

The Chairman. So that in a number of cases the best you can do Is to soften
language that is intended to stir up hatred in the United States.

Mrs. Lazell. Yes, sir. I told some Communist sympathizers that in the end
they would not gain anything by any such warfare.

The Chairman. I was simply going to ask you with reference to all of the
States except California. You have passed on it for all the States?

Mrs. Lazell. All of the States have not come in yet. Some have come In
from Michigan, containing a terrific tirade against Henry Ford. I want to know
how they got this far with it. It was too terrible, and we sat on It.

Mr. Mason. It does show, however, that In the State headquarters they
prepare such propaganda to be sent in.

The Chairman. Is that correct?

Mrs. Lazell. That is true in some States, but in other States they are finding
ways to make the copy clean. The Montana copy came in nice. There is one
comment that came through to me finally. I do not know whether I will lose
that fight. , , . , _ ,

The Chairman, What other States have sent m communistic or inflammatory

material?

36 UN-AMERICAN ACTIVITIES AND PROPAGANDA

Mrs. Lazell. Very few States have sent such material in. Michigan has sent
in sonie.

The Chairman. New Jersey and Michigan have sent in such material?

Mrs. Lazell. Yes, sir.

The Chairman. And Iowa?

Mrs. Lazell. Just a little. I do not know who that was. Most of the Iowa
copy is very acceptable. More than one work on it. I am not positive that the
criminal syndicali-^m matter came from Iowa.

The Chairman. Can you mention any other States that have sent in com-
munistic material?

Mrs. Lazell. No, sir; not on the whole. Most of the State officers resist it.
In Tennessee there were rejected 10 or 15 pages of instructions as to the Negro's
rights and their labor troubles. It related to Negro and labor troubles there.

Tlic Chairman. Then, I understand you to say that the officials of the Depart-
ment have written back for more material on the Negro question and on labor
troubles, so that, is it correct to say, that those in charge here in Washington have
invited propaganda for the purpose of stirring up strife between capital and labor
and between the races?

Mrs. Lazell. Yes, sir.

Mr. Mason. Would you say those in charge here in Washington, or some in
charge?

Mrs. Lazell. Some in charge.

Mr. Mason. Undoubtedly some of them down there are clean.

Mrs. Lazell. Yes, sir. Mr. George Cronin, who was associate director with
Mr. Alsberg, until last November, was demoted. I think you should .subpena
Mr. Cronin. They made a lot of fuss about it. He was named associate director
with Joe Baker, with Henry. He made a fine stand.

Mr. Mason. Was he demoted because he protested?

Mrs. Lazell. He protested openly at several meetings.

The Chairman. I think you have covered the situation in those States. You
have tried to do a clean job, but have received orders from the national office to
send in more of that kind of material.

Mrs. Lazell. More material on labor and strikes. Almost every day we get
them. I said to one person, "You do not realize that you are hurting labor."
Labor is in serious war with capital. I know there are fine labor people who will
object to this stuff.

The Chairman. I think you have covered all of the States except California:
Now tell us what you found with reference to California.

Mrs. Lazell. As to California, I have something in writing here. This is the
statement I have. This is something that will happen later, but I will give it to
you. I hope you will use it without quoting it. If you quote it, it simply means
my job. I am on this Federal Writers job under Henry Alsberg, and I will do
the job as long as I can do it honestly. When the California copy is going through,
I think that will be the tir.ie that I may not continue. The National Almanac
for Thirtj'-Niners is going through. We are getting out that Almanac. The
Almanac is coming out. The Almanac for Thirty-Niners is the predecessor of
the Guide. This thing appears in it, without rhyme or reason. This is an
opportunity which Henry Alsberg has taken, and this is an item which will show
what I am up against right now.

The Chairman. What was to appear in it?

Mrs. Lazell. I have the language here. On pages 9 and 10, directly following
Saturday, January 28, is a letter and comment on the Mooncy trial that I said
that we should not on any account print. This is a letter and comment on the
Mooney trial, which I quoted to Mr. Alsberg. I stated that it was something
that we should on no account print in this Government publication. It was
quoted from the Historic Document Department, which is one of our departments.
The letter, with bad spelling and all, is as follows:

Gratville, III.
Mr. Ed Rigall,

Dear Ed: Has been a long time since I hurd from j'ou. I have a chance for
you to cum to San Frico as a Expert Wittnes in a very important case, you will
only haf to answer 3 & 4 questions and I will Post you on them. You will get
milcgage and all that a witness can draw. Probly 100 in the clear. So if you
will come ans me quik in care of this Hotel And I will mange the Balance. It is
nil OK but I need a wittense. Let me know if you can come, Jan. 3, is the dait
set for trile. Please keep this confidential.

Answer hear.
Yours truly

F. C. OXMAN.

UN-AMERICAN ACTIVITIES AND PROPAGANDA 37

The "very important case" was the Preparedness Day bombing trial of January
1917, which sent San Francisco labor leader, Thomas J. Mooney, to prison for life.
State's chief witness against Mooney was F. C. Oxman.

Imagine that appearing in a Government publication.

The Chairman. Was that an authentic letter?

Mrs. Lazell. How do we know? It was being printed, and it came from our
historic document department. Mr. Alsberg called me, and Mr. Coy was
there on one side. He is in California a part of the time. Alsberg said, "I am very
sorry." I thought we were coming to the end of the row with him. He said,
"I am sorry j'ou have agreed with Mrs. Lazell." He said this is a very serious
matter. He said, "Take it out, but be sure, though, that the whole account be
printed in the San Francisco Guide."

That has not gone tlirough yet, and the proof of my position wiU be the Cali-
fornia Guide. Mr. Alsberg will see to it.

The Chairman. Will you furnish us a copy of the California Guide when it is
completed?

Mrs. Lazell. Yes, sir; they are doing work on it now. There is one more
thing about this: They give the story of the Massacre of the Innocents, and of the
funeral afterward. I suggested that the line reading, "Floral offerings from the
police were returned," be deleted. That should be cut out, and it should be
smoothed down.

Mr. Mason. Your statement is that such material is to be in the California
Guide?

Mrs. La/ell. Such material and more of it may appear in the California Guide.
Mrs. Woodward sent me to do this job, and she is no red."

The Chairman. Did you go to California?

Mrs. Lazell. No, sir; I have been editing it as this material comes in. If
this goes out, my job is gone. I can prove that by the Guide when it comes out.
Until it comes to me, this "red" stuff stays in. Henry Alsberg let the New Jersey
stuff remain mostly until it got to me.

The Chairman. Has Henry Alsberg ever made any statement to you that would
lead you to beheve that he was a Communist sympathizer? We want you to tell
us exactly the truth. We are not going to give publicity to your testimony at
this time, but, of course, eventually it wiU have to come out.

Mrs. Lazell. All right; it is my job.

The Chairman. This committee will do everything in its power to protect you
against discharge. If any effort is made to discharge you, the entire committee
will protest it to the whole country.

Mrs. Lazell. I will give you a perfect example of a thing that happened.

The Chairman. You tell us frankly and candidly the whole truth, and this com-
mittee will do everything in its power to see that you. are not punished for it.

Mrs. Lazell. I think the grand attack will be made on the other thing anyway.
Wherever I have been in these 4 years, I have tried to be American in what I did.
Last spring a little book from South Dakota, called Unfinished Histories, that
was published at Mitchell, S. Dak., came up. It was just about httle incidents
at little towns. It was sent in, and I read the proofs. The stuff was badly marked
up. About 6 weeks later, the page proofs came through. This was the first and
only time they rejected the radical thing about the book. I did not read the manu-
script carefully, word for word, and I put my O. K. on Unfinished Histories
without realizing there was matter in it that was not in the other; but a httle later
I was called up before Mr. Alsberg's assistant, and they were very much upset.
There was a little article in it called Home Guards that showed how a bunch of
citizens got together and chased the I. W- W. out of town. To them that was
horrible. There was nothing horrible about it. In fact, it was rather humorous.
Nobody was hurt or killed, but Mr. Alsberg was shocked. This must be sup-
pressed! He said, "What will the New Masses say if they get hold of it?"

The Chairman. That is what he said to you?

Mrs. Lazell. Yes, sir.

The Chairman. The New Masses is a well-known Communist publication.

Mrs. Lazell. Yes, sir; that was suppressed because of that one story, and a
revised edition is out now. The story is out now, with no other change.

Mr. Mason. In all these other publications, they have encouraged the selection
of accounts of atrocities.

Mrs. Lazell. Yes, sir; but they were shocked when some good Americans
chased a bunch of toughs out of town.

We have quoted at length from the testimony of Mrs. Louise Lazell
because we think that in view of her position with the Federal Writers
Project, she is in a position to speak authoritatively.

38 UN-AilERICAN ACTIVITIES AND PROPAGANDA

Another ^\^tness who testified in executive session was Mr. Jeremiah
Tax, who reads proof for the Federal Writers Project. Because of
the importance of this testimony, we are setting it forth. ♦ * ♦

Mr. Tax. I read material that goes into the guide books which have already
been set up in proof form, In galley proof form or page proof form.

The Chairman. You have heard tne testimony of tne two preceding witnesses,
have you not?

Mr. Tax. Yes.

The Chairman. What can you add to that testimony?

Mr. Tax. I cannot add anything in fact, because anything that I have noted
In the galleys and in the material that was to go into the guide books, II have taken
up with Mrs. Shreve and she has made copies of all of them, and she has given her
testimony. All I can add Is that I can answer "yes" to every question that you
have asked, on whether or not the stirring up of race hatred and the stirring up
of class struggle between labor and capital, between the working classes and the
owning classes, is being disseminated in the United States through those guides.
I can answer "yes" to that every time.

I have read proof of the Minnesota Guide Book, the Montana Guide Book,
and the New Jersey Guide Book, and in each instance I have noticed the insertion
of material which definitely had no place In a Government book, specifically for
the purpose of printing facts.

In every one of those books I have noticed, not only In the essays which deal
with labor or with commerce or with Industry, but throughout all the books,
throughout the tours, descriptions of buildings, descriptions of monuments, there
is inserted definite, absolute propaganda for the labor movement against capital
and toward stirring up hatred between the two classes. And as I have noted
these things I have given them to Mrs. Shreve and she has told you what she has
done with them.

The Chairman. Have they appeared notwithstanding, most of them?

Mr. T.\x. I have only read proof on three books and none of those books has
been printed yet, I believe; the Minnesota, the New Jersey, and the Montana books.

The Chairman. You are familiar with what communism is, are you not?

Mr. Tax. Oh, yes, indeed.

The Chairman. Are you familiar with the tactics and strategies of the Com-
munists?

Mr. Tax. I certainly am. A member of my family la a member of the party.
That is why I know.

The Chairman. Are you familiar with their propaganda and the language that
they use?

Mr. Tax. I have read It all.

The Chairman. And their phraseology?

Mr. Tax. Exactly. That Is one other thing I wanted to mention.

The Chairman. How does the Communist phraseology and tactics and strategy
eompare with what has been inserted in these guidebooks that you have read?

Mr. Tax. I have noticed, especially in the New Jersey Guide Book, in the labor
essay, where expressions like overtime work, and the like, ordinary, every-day
words in usage in the English language, have been deleted, and expressions like
"the stretch-out," which means compulsory overtime work, have been used.
Each time the New Jersey people have used In their labor essays, simple, ordinary
language on the subject, they have been changed.

The Chairman. To a communistic phraseology?

Mr. Tax. To a communistic phraseology; I would say in all ca.ses, but if not
in all cases, certainly in the labor phraseology. It has not been impartial phrase-
©logy.

The chief horror of this whole thing to me is not whether or not we can actually
prove these things exist, whether we can give you documents or not, but that a
iltuation does exist in what Is manifestly a relief project, sponsored by the Gov-
ernment of the United States with money taken from Its Treasury, which is put
Into the Treasury by the taxpayers — that such a situation can exist where people
trying to put out a clean set of books, setting forth American institutions, describ-
ing them and describing legal set-ups — that that has to be the subject of direct
Communistic attack and propagandizing.

I do not believe It has been mentioned before, but in the New Jersey Guide
Book there is a criticism of the legislative set-up. The legislative set-up in New
Jersey is patterned exactly after the legislative set-up of the United States of
America. That is, there u one house, the senate, and one house, the house of

UN-AMERICAN ACTIVITIES AND PROPAGANDA 39

representatives; one which Is based on equal representation, that is a certain
number, two senators from each State and one senator from each county in the
State, and the other representations as to population. There is a direct criticism
of that form of government in New Jersey, because it does not lead to adequate
representation of the counties in New Jersey which have more population than
the others. In other words, it is a direct criticism of the form of Government
of the United States, implying that a State like Nevada should not merit two
senators in one house and a representative or one or two representatives in the
lower house. That is a direct criticism of the New Jersey legislative system.
There is no reference made to the United States Government system, but the two
are patterned exactly alike.

Mr. Mason. May I ask why was criticism of the form of government in New
Jersey dragged into a guidebook?

Mr. Tax. That is my point. It had no place there to begin with. These
guidebooks are for the purpose of describing America. They are for the purpose
of describing the American Government, American buildings, American history,
the American labor movement, the history and development of American ciil-
tuie, art, and literature.

Mr. Mason. And not criticising it?

Mr. Tax. And not criticizing it; well, criticism according to a proofreader's
point of view is editorializing. It is just as unfair to say criticism; that is editorila-
izing. And in New Jersey there is direct editorializing on the subject of the form
of government of the State, and not describing it.

Mr. Mason. May I ask if the New Jersey Guide Book Is now in print?

Mr. Tax. It is in type; that is, proofs have been pulled.

Mr. Mason. Are there any of these gmdebooks that you people have been
talking about, where this material has been inserted, now in print so that we can
get the finished copy?

Mr. Tax. So far as I am concerned, I would very gladly bring them her©. I was
perfectly willing, when I read the New Jersey Guide Book, to take those galleys
out of the office and bring them back. My position up there is a little unique, as
compared with Mrs. Lazell's and Mrs. Shreve's, in that I am on the W. P. A.
rolls; my salary up there amounts to about $19 a week, the loss of which, while it
would mean an awful lot to me at the present time. Is not sufficient to soothe my
conscience, or anything like that, and I would be perfectly willing, if I could —
I do not know whether those things are still there — ^take them out of the office
and bring them here, either for copying or for transcription or for

The Chairman. Well, you would not want to violate any law, and the com-
mittee would not have you do that. I doubt seriously if they will ever be printed
in view of this investigation, Mr. Mason.

Is there anything else you can add, Mr. Tax?

Mr. Tax. On the subject of phraseology; yes. In all three of the guidebooks
that I have read, the labor essay is premised — the premise of the labor essay is
that the history of labor in all of these States has been a struggle and a war
between, on the one hand, capital, and, on the other hand, labor. That Is, there
is no attempt to give the history, but rather for you to look at the history through
the premise that at the bottom it is all a struggle or a war between two factions,
and not a development, not a business of cooperation, not a question of mediation.

There is direct criticism in the New Jersey Guide of a labor organization called
the Knights of Labor, the death of which organization it is stated in the New
Jersey Guide is attributed to the fact that they favored conciliation rather than
mihtancy. That is still in the Guide, the last time I saw it. That is the whole
premise behind anything of any communistic nature that goes in there, that
you must see it

Mr. Mason. As a class struggle?

Mr. Tax. As a class struggle, at the bottom. There is no question of the
history or of a development of any movement, but as a struggle, a struggle for
higher wages, a struggle for the right to strike. That is what I mean by phrase-
ology. Everything foUowa from there. If you accept the first premise, it ic
all very logical. It is aU very logical for companies to have tear gas in their
vaults, and employ people for espionage and employ strikebreakers and have
hidden arsenals; it follows very logically, because if there is a war, certainly each
Bide has got to fortify itself. So ifyou accept the first paragraph of each one of
those labor essays, the rest follows logically.

The Chairman. So that the whole question is presented from the commumstio
viewpoint and angle rather than from a legitimate labor angle?

Mr. Tax. That is right.

40 UN-AMERICAN ACTIVITIES AND PROPAGANDA

The committee did not have the time or money to investigate fully
Communist activities in the National Labor Relations Board. How-
ever, wo secured and placed in the record an article written by David
J. Saposs, who is the chief economist for the National Labor Kela-
tions Board. Tliis article, together witii other testimony showing
that Mr. Saposs was on the executive committee of another organiza-
tion which was plainly conmiunistic, convinced the conmiittce that
Mr. Saposs is either a Communist or is sympathetic with the Com-
munist teachings. From his own expressions and activities, it is
impossible to reach any other conclusion. When it is considered
that Mr. David J. Saposs occupies one of the key positions in the
National Labor Relations Board, and that he was pubhcly defended
by Mr. Warren Madden, chairman of the National Labor Relations
Board, a most astonishing situation is presented. In defending Mr.
Saposs, Mr. Madden places a stamp of approval upon Mr. Saposs'
expressions of Communist views, and his activities along this line
which creates a ^rave doubt with regard to the National Labor
Relations Board m view of these facts. This committee believes
that the National Labor Relations Board should be subjected to a
thorough investigation for the purpose of determining to what extent
the members of the Board and its employees approve of the Com-
munist views expressed by Mr. Saposs. If Mr. Saposs expresses the
economic views of the majority of the Board and the employees admin-
istering this act, then the country is confronted with a very grave
situation. The very fact that Mr. Saposs holds these views and has
engaged in these activities is bad enough when we consider the key
position he holds, but worse than this is the fact that J. Warren
Madden, chairman of the Board, defended the views and activiti( s
of Mr. Saposs and thereby placed himself, if not the Board, in the
light of endorsing the views and activities of Mr. Saposs. Because
of the importance of this, we are setting forth in full the article written
by David J. Saposs in Labor Age, in the issue of December 1931,
which follows:

Left Opposition in the Labor and Socialist International

By D. J. Saposs

A small minority in the Fourth Congress of the Labor and Socialist International
held in Vienna from July 4 to August 1, led by the British Independent Labor
Party, took issue with the overwhelming majority. The differences were not so
much over fundamental principles as over the mode of procedure. The minority
demanded more positive, energetic, and uncompromising action in the attempt
of the Socialists to cope with the present world ailments. Its spokesmen main-
tained that economic conditions are ripe for socialism and that the International
should, therefore, direct its forces for the immediate overthrow of capitalism.
Instead of taking this positive position, the majority favors temporizing. This
is a fallacious attitude; the Socialist movement must tell the people that capitalism
cannot be stabilized and that the world cannot be saved by capitalist devices.

The opposition further demanded that the International state definitely that ita
program of action means "a declaration of uncompromising war on capitalism."
It wanted the International to emphasize the urgent need of the workers to rally
around the "Socialist movement in order to achieve international socialism. '
Hence, it is imperative that the International unequivocally reject the present
"policy of toleration and of cooperation with capitalist parties," because such a
policy "always results in maintaining the principle of the capitalist system."

As for democracy, the opposition also wants to safeguard it. But bourgeois
democracy is a sham. When it is evident that socialism is the only remedy, it is
not worth saving a democracy in which Socialist parties only collaborate with
capitalism. In this connection the oppositional so called attention to the fact

UN-AMERICAN ACTIVITIES AND PROPAGANDA 41

that fascism has grown side by side with coalition governments in which Socialists
participated. Thus, the dilatory procedure of the majority Socialists is enabling
the reactionary forces to entrench themselves. Consequently, when the majority
says it will resort to force only if obstructionist tactics are resorted to by the capi-
talists and the reactionary forces, it is only waiting until the harm is done before
it acts. As conditions stand now, slow-going democracy involves the workers in
suffering and their leaders in shifty compromises. From a revolutionary point
of view, democracy means meeting the situation and not running away from it
by forming coalitions with bourgeois governments.

One of the chief spokesmen for the opposition ended by proclaiming "that
the only way ouf of the present situation is to raise the banner for a new social
order; and, if that is done, socialism will be gotten without a catastrophe."

In similar terms the minority attacked the attitude of the majority on war and
disarmament. It asserted that the dangers of war were greater now then at any
time since the peace treaties were signed. Moreover, it had no confidence in the
League of Nations or the Geneva Disarmament Commission, since they are
dominated by the imperialistic powers. What the international socialist move-
ment must do is to appeal to the workers and not to governments. It must take
the position that socialists cannot support any war. There must be no com-
promise with war any more than there must be compromise with capitalist
parties in parliament. Socialists must always vote against military credits,
and when they come in control of government they must set the example by dis-
arming. If in the attempt to carry out such a program political action fails
then the workers must unhesitatingly resort to organized force. The Inter-
national must take the position that if another war occurs the workers will destroy
capitalism. With that end in view, the workers must be prepared to stretch
arms across the frontiers in case of war and definitely win power for themselves.

The Congress was unevenly divided in voting strength. On all divisions
the majority overwhelmingly outvoted the opposition. All the old and out-
standing leaders were on the side of the majority, whereas the minority leaders
consisted of some of the well-known newer and, par consequence, younger men in
the movement. This Left opposition in the Socialist International has just
appeared and was not well organized. Also, because of the provision making it
possible for delegations to resort to the unit rule it is difficult to estimate its exact
strength. This factor is illustrated by the procedure of the American delegation.
Although a militant minority presented its view in delegation meetings, the entire
delegation is recorded as voting with the majority.

The difference between the majority and opposition is one that has agitated
the radical movements since their advent. Hence, in debates the fundamental
issue was between cautious and slow against energetic and forceful procedure in
order to remedy conditions and to attain socialism. The overwhelming majority
counseled moderation and cooperation with the democratic and bourgeois liberal
elements, working at the same time for a gradual introduction of socialism. To
them the need of checkmating fascism was the chief concern since democracy is
the vehicle upon which socialism will gradually reach its aspired goal.

The small minority, on the other hand, demanded mUitant action that would
primarily wage battle on the enemy, capitalism, instead of using up too much
energy in cooperating with the uncertain capitalist forces no matter how liberal
and democratic they may be. And instead of only resisting the advance of
fascism through maneuvers, they would immediately wage battle on the entire
front, since fascism is but a foil of capitalism.

It would seem that both elements favor aggressive action. The majority,
however, emphasizes militancy in defense of gains already made by labor, as well
as in defense of democracy and against fascism and dictatorship. In contrast to
the defensive militancy of the majority, the minority stresses the need of an offen-
sive against capitalism by initiating an immediate struggle for the rapid achieve-
ment of socialism. It is for this reason that they are opposed to Socialists par-
ticipating in coalition governments, in placing faith in the League of Nations, in
agitating and petitioning against war, and in trusting liberal, capitalistic, and
democratic elements.

We also set forth the following testimony of Mr. J. B. Matthews
with reference to D. J. Saposs:

The Chairman. Mr. Matthews, you gave to the committee some several weeks
ago an article written by David J. Saposs, chief economist of the National Labor
Relations Board, appearing in Labor Age, December 1931 issue.

Since that time, it has been contended that this was a report, rather than an
expression of views on the part of Mr. Saposs. Now, will you proceed with your

42 UN-AMERICAN ACTIVITIES AND PROPAGANDA

statement, giving us your additional Information as to his membership in an
organization, and the preamble of the organization, its platform — what it stood
for — and what part lie played in tliat organization?

Mr. jNIatthews. At the time of his writing of the article which was intro-
duced several days ago, Mr. Saposs was a member of the national executive
committee of an organization known as the Conference for Progressive Labor
Action. His membership on the national executive committee of that organiza-
tion is noted in Labor Age, September 1932, page 5.

y The Chair.ma.v. Now here [exliibiting] is the magazine Labor Age and here is
the list of the national executive committee. It gives quite a number of names
and the name of David J. Saposs is listed as a member of the executive com-
mittee, an oflicer.

This is the magazine, is it not [indicating]?

Mr. Matthews. Yes.

The Chairman. We offer this in evidence and will let this go in the record.

(The i.ssue of September 1932 of Labor Age was marked "Exhibit No. 1,
Matthews" and filed with the committee.)

Proceed.

Mr. Matthews. According to the official "Statement of purpose" of the
Conference for Progressive Labor Action, all members of the organization were
required "To accept the fundamental aims of the organization and to carry out
Buch policies as may be adopted by the organization."

The Chaikman. From where is that statement taken?

Mr. Matthews. That statement appears in Labor Age, November 1931, page
26.

The Chairman. Now, here I have the November 1931 issue, containing
"Statement of ptirpose. Conference for Progressive Labor Action." It reads:

"1. To accept the fundamental aims of the organization and to carry out such
policii'S as may be adopted by the organization."

Is that what you refer to?

Mr. Matthews. Yes.

(The November 1931 issue of Labor Age was marked "Exhibit No. 2, Matthews"
and filed with the committee.)

The Chairman. All right; proceed.

Mr. Matthews. It is clear, therefore, that in his position as a member of the
national executive committee, Mr. Saposs subscribed to the preamble to the con-
stitution of the Conference for Progressive Labor Action, which preamble you
will find in Labor Age, September 1932, page 5 (Exhibit Matthews No. 1).

The Chairman. Quote from it.

Mr. Matthews (reading): "Planless, profiteering, war-provoking, imperialistic
capitalism must be abolished. Sham political democracy which has been the
tool of capitalist business and finance must also go. We must have a workers'
republic and a planned economic order under which the masses will labor to
create plenty, security, leisure, and freedom for themselves, not profits, privilege
and arl^itrary power for a few.

"The job of abolishing capitalism and building a new social order must be done
by the workers — industrial, agricultural, clerical, technical, professional — who
stand to gain, materially and spiritually, by the change. We, the workers, must
outselves provide the revolutionary will, the courage and the intelligence for the
task.

"To realize our aim we must achieve power. To gain power, we must organize.

"Effective working-class organization in the modern world consists not merely
of militant industrial unions, or farmers' unions, or a labor political party, or
cooperative enterprises, or educational agencies, but of all these fused into a
living movement advancing on all fronts, toward its goal of a new society.

"Above all, those movements of the working masses must be imbued with the
will and the courage to fight. We do not delude ourselves with the notion that
under present conditions the people have genuine democracy and have but to
vote a new order into being if they so desire. The schools, the press, the radio,
the pulpit, the courts, the police, the control of the job, are almost entirely in
the hands of the possessing class. Though it may consent occasionally to slight
reforms, provided it retains the reality of power and the right to profits, for the
most part it makes increasing lawless and violent use of the institutions which it
controls. Unless, therefore, we choose submission to a Fascist dictatorship of
big business and finance, the mas.ses must oppose this lawlessness and tyranny by
struggle on every front and by realistic and courageous use of the means which
will accomplish their final emancipation. They must depend on their organized
strength, not on the machinery of a capitalistic government.

UN-AMERICAN ACTIVITIES AND PROPAGANDA 43

"As always, so now in this crucial period in the history of the American working
class, the responsibility of giving inspiration, help, and leadership to the masses in
their struggle rests upon the active, devoted, mihtant workers. These active
elements in order to be effective must know each other, must train themselves to
do real work, must plan and act together and not in a haphazard fashion.

"The C. P. L. A. has therefore been formed in the United States of America,
the very stronghold of capitalism and imperialism, to band militant workers
together. It is an organization of militants, which talks to American workers in
their own language about their own problems, which brings them help and in-
spiration in their daily struggle with the boss, which seeks in every way and on
every front to unify and build up the power of labor, so that the workers may
take control of industry and government, abolish the system which makes cannon
fodder in time of peace, and build a sane and just economic system and a workers'
republic to be united in bonds of comradeship with workers' republics throughout
the world."

The Chairman. Now, that is on page 5 here of Labor Age, and you have read
it exactly from that. Do any of you gentlemen care to see the publication; is
there any question about it?

(No response.)

Mr. Matthews. Do you want the other excerpts?

The Chairman. Yes. Go ahead.

Mr. Matthews. From the language of the preamble, it wiU be seen that
Mr. Saposs' own avowed views, not his "objective reporting," parallel in almost
identical language the excerpts to which attention has been called in his article.
This preamble said, "* * * Capitalism must be abolished. It cannot be re-
formed. Sham political democracy which has been the tool of capitalist business
and finance must also go. We must have a workers' republic and a planned
economic order * * *."

fe- The Conference for Progressive Labor Action published a weekly newspaper
called Labor Action. You have a copy of that, Mr. Chairman.

The Chairman. Yes; I have it here.

Mr. Matthews. You will find, on page 3, I was foreign news editor of that
publication.

The Chairman. Well, let us look and see if your were.

Mr. Matthews. On page 3, I think it is.

The Chairman (reading). "Foreign News. By J. B. Matthews."

You were foreign news editor and the editorial board was Louis F. Budenz

Mr. Matthews. He is now the editor of the Communist newspaper in Chicago.

The Chairman. What is that newspaper?

Mr. Matthews. The Midwest Daily.

The Chairman. E. J. Lever — do you know who he is?

Mr. Matthews. C. I. O. organizer for the State of New Jersey.

The Chairman. Karl Lore?

Mr. Matthews. I don't know where he is now.

The Chairman. Herman Gund?

Mr. Matthews. I don't know where he is now.

The Chairman. J. B. S. Hardman?

Mr, Matthews. J. B. S. Hardman is editor of the paper of the Almagamated
Cothing Workers of America.

The Chairman. Harry A. Howe?

Mr. Matthews. He is working in the Communist Party at the present time.

The Chairman. E. R. McKinney?

Mr. Matthews. E. R. McKinney is organizing in the steel for the Communist
Party and the C. I. O. at the present time.

The Chairman. David J. Saposs, or D. J. Saposs?

Mr. Matthews. You know where he is.

The Chairman. A. J. Muste?

Mr. Matthews. A. J. Muste was the leader of this group. He has left it; the
group has dissolved, and he is now pastor of Labor Temple, in New York City.

The Chairman. Is he a weU-known Communist?

Mr. Matthews. He was never a member of the party, but his views are known
to be well-known Communist views.

The Chairman. He has a great many articles, I see, in Fight and other maga-
zines which we have possession of?

Mr. Matthews. Yes.

The Chairman. In that group I have read, which ones do you know to be
members of the Communist Party?

Mr. Matthews. You wiU have to read them again.

44 UN-AMERICAN ACTIVITIES AND PROPAGANDA

The Chairman. Louis F. '^udenz.
Mr. Matthews. He is.

Mn Mat^e^s. Yei' ^ ^^""^^^^ ^«°^ber of the Communist Party?

The Chairman. E. J. Lever?

Mr. Matthews. No.

The Chairman. Is Lore?

Mr. Matthews. I don't know about him now.

Ihe Chairman. Herman Gund?

Mr. Matthews. I don't know about him

T/r^ Chairman. Do you know about J. 8. B. Hardman?

Mr. Matthews. He is not a member.

1 he Chairman. Harry A. Howe?

Mr. Matthews. He is.

The Chairman. E. R. McKinney?

Mr. Matthews. He is.

Mr' Matthew"!'. yIs.^' ''' ^^"^^^"^^^ ^^^« ^I'-^^dy told about him?
The Chairman. So that the views expressed by Mr. Saposs in the article intro
or^g'anizSS '''''' ''°' '"'"'^^^ ^^'^ '^^^ ^'^''^'"^ ^^"^ ^^« objecUves of tWs

The CHArM^N^ Go' J^^elt '^ "^^ "^"^"' ^ ^"^^"^^^ P— "^•
Mr. Matthews In the issue of Labor Action of January 21, 1933 which von
have in your hands, D. J. Saposs is listed as a member of the editorial board
On^that same page, you will find in an editorial statement the foKing ?an:

tL Cha* r Ja°n" Whlre'slhatT " " ""^'^ ''' '"'^ plague"—

miS'dle alYhTfo'tomVnhfp^re^'^ '" "'• '' '' ^^ '''''''''' «*^^^--^ ^" ^^«

The Chairman. All right; now read it
ih!fl;u^^''\l^'''^ (reading): "* * * You know that there is a remedy for
can e^ver'a^ply ^%^- ?" 2'/'^^'^'''"'' ^ ^^^^^^y that only the workers S a^dlss
nf Th.fi?- /""-^fK^"^] statement, as you will see, and presumably had the approval

?L ^lotf ^"""^^ ^.l'"^';^^ "T^^"^ ^^l- ^^P«^^ ^'^^ a member, oie of the points S
the platform of the Conference for Progressive Labor Action, to which Mr

foTws: ""' ^ ^ ' ^^'' ^ ^*^°"^^ Executive Committee, subscribed, reads i

tS* * **u^'^*^\® ^^^^^^ *° develop a militant left wing political organization
n? f.'.Zrf u^ ^'""'r} °^ ^^ucation and agitation which is necessary for the SiHd ng
of a mass labor party, and working with such a mass labor party once it is formed
in order that it may not fall into opportunism, but may Tdva^nce^ swiftly and
steadily as possible to its true goal, the complete abolition of planless, profiteering
capitalism, and the building of a workers' repubUc. The 6. P -L A aiSs to
function as such a mihtant left wing political organization " ♦ ♦ "•
1 hat is in Labor Age, November 1931, page 26

Pn+TI'iL -T^'^'l'^^ ^ T^^°® '"i^^'f. P^P^'"' ^^^^""^ Action, they have a picture
entitled "Look Around You, Mr. Green" and under the picture appears • ''News
Item: President William Green, of the American Federation orCbS-" assures
Cincinnati reporters that racketeers have practically disappeared from A F of L
in^'S-city ''• ^'^ attending the annual convention ?f the labor organization

=r.f!?^ ^'"'■^ JV ?^^°?? [exhibiting] and it shows on the platform Mr. Green

h?«, i'lT '''''^ ^^'^^^ ^'°'' * ""°^^^'" °^ People- one of whom just has a resem-
blance to someone I have seen. 'cacm

.J^I^ Klt-'"'?\r- n^^ implication, of course, is clear that the five gentlemen
seated behind Mr. Green are labor racketeers

hehl^^HS^nfA^/;o-^''*'' *i'f,* ''^9*°°° ^^""^ ^'■- ^^^^ ^ O'^e of them without his
Deing designated as one of them?

tnfpl'H?H^+"°'''''^- XlV ^ thi"k the very left-hand figure there is undoubtedly
Intended to represent the present head of the C I O

N^^^^ K?L^"=*'''''''^^''A^5°''-i''ii''"''' •^"""^'■y ^^33. was marked "Exhibit
^o. (i— IMatthcws,' and filed with the committee.)

The Chairman. Are there any questions?

Mr. Thomas. About Mr. Saposs. Where was he born?

UN-AMERICAN ACTIVITIES AND PROPAGANDA 45

Mr. Matthews. I do not recall at the moment the exact place of his birth.
I have known it, but it has slipped my mind.

Mr. Thomas. Was he born in the United States?

Mr. Matthews. No; he was born in Russia. ''"

Mr. Thomas. He was born in Russia?

Mr. Matthews. Yes.

Mr. Thomas. Do you know how long he has been in the United States?

Mr. Matthews. No, I don't.

Mr. Thomas. It is not clear to me, also, just what his position is at the present
time.

Mr. Matthews. His official designation, as I understand it, is chief economist
of the National Labor Relations Board.

Mr. Thomas. How long has he held that position — do you know?

Mr. Matthews. No, I don't.

Mr. Thomas. Is it a recent appointment, or has he held it for some time?

Mr. Matthews. To my knowledge, he has held it for 2 years; I don't know
how much longer.

Mr. Thomas. That is all the questions I have.

Mr. Paul Sifton is at present the Assistant Administrator of the new Wagef
and Hours Administration. He occupies a key position in this important Admin-
istration. We, therefore, think it pertinent to quote from the testimony of
J. B. Matthews with reference to Mr. Sifton.

Mr. Matthews. I have here a copy of the first issue of Fight Magazine, of
which Joseph Pass was editor. A box on the second page designates me as
chairman, William Pickens as vice president, and Donald Henderson as secretary.
Even a casual examination of that first issue of the magazine will disclose the
Communist character of the publication. For example, the first article is by
Henri Barbusse, the well-known Communist. The second article, entitled
"Cuba," is by Martin Kaye, also a well-known Communist; a third article is by
Langston Hughes, the Negro poet, and well-known Communist. The fourth
article is by John Strachey, who denies that he is a Communist. The next
article is by Nan Lee, who is a Communist, and I find that I contributed an
article entitled "Germany and the War Peril." Then there is a cartoon by the
well-known cartoonist for New Masses and the Daily Worker, Cropper. Next is
an article by Roger Baldwin, and then an article by Harold Hickerson. There
Is another by Joe Shields, who writes for the Dajly Worker.

I want to call attention to an article by Paul Sifton. Paul Sifton is at present
the assistant administrator of the new Wages and Hours Administration. He is
assistant to Mr. Andrews, and I think the record should have what Mr. Sifton
wrote in this first issue.

The Chairman. Yes; put it in. In view of the important position he holds
in the new wages and hours organization, I think it is well to know how he feels.

Mr. Matthews. Among other things, he said this:

"Tell them you know that they know they're sunk unless they can start a war
to make their $200,000,000,000 in debts look better than a trainload of waste
paper; tell them they and their fancy pieces of paper and the whole capitalist
shell game can sink and be damned.

"Tell them that we've got another war on, closer home, a war to establish a
workers' peace, a workers' government.

"(They know this anyway, but they hate to be told.)

"If you want to make it snappy, tell them that workers have been played for
saps long enough. Tell them to go to hell. Then make it stick."

The Chairman. That was in the first issue of this publication Fight, which
was the oflicial organ for the League for Peace and Democrac}'?

Mr. Matthews. Yes, sir.

*******

The Chairman. You read in the record this morning a statement by Mr.

Sifton, now an assistant under Mr. Andrews, the head of the Wages and Hours

Board. Read us some more of some of the things that Mr. Sifton said. What

Is his first name?

Mr. Matthews. Paul. Here is an article entitled, "Uncle Sam Wants You."
The Chairman. You also have some things written by another Paul, have you

not? You might read that in a few minutes. But go ahead with what you

started to read.

H. Kept. 2, 76-1-

46 UN-AMEKICAN ACTIVITIES AND PROPAGANDA

Mr. Matthews. It says:

"Hey, there, big boy. Uncle Sara wants j'^ou for the next war. He wants you
to take $30 a month (less payments for bonds and thrift stamps, and so on)' for
doing this:

"Saying, 'Yes, sir,' to bright boys in officers' pink panta.

"Packing CO pounds of clothes, shoes, hardware, and food on your back through
mud, ice, dust, and heat.

"Digging trenches in the ground like a half-witted woodchuck while your
family back home scratches around for food and fuel.

"Shooting holes in men like yourself across a line.

"Getting wounded yourself, in the leg, or arm or chest or guts.

"Getting gassed so that your skin curls up like bacon on a fire and you cough
up your lungs.

"Dying all at once or by inches or maybe living to stand in bread lines after
it s over.

How's that? "Like hell!', you say? Then speak up — say it now. Say it
loud. Back it up with action before "the leading citizens" can get the war started,
before they begin slapping you around with bayonets.

"You do the leading; set the fat boys back on their bottoms and keep them
there; keep them blocking; keep them ducking; don't let them tie you up with
their bull about patriotism.

"Ask them how clo.se to the front they got in the last war — in any war; ask them
how much money they made while you, or your brother or father, were fighting
to make the world safe for Mellon and InsuU and Krueger and Krupp.

"Don't be a mug. Make up your mind what you want and then go after it.
The fat boys won't thank you, but you can look yourself, your wife, and your
children in the face. And the chances are that you'll live a damn sight longer
and better."

I quoted the rest of the article this morning.

The Chairman. Read that; I want to get that into the record.

Mr. Matthews. It says:

"Tell them that we've got another war on, closer home, a war to establish a
workers' peace, a workers' government.

"(They know this anyway, but they hate to be told.)

"If you want to make it snapi)y, just tell thom that workers have been played
for saps long enough. Tell them to go to hell."

7. Communist Penetration of Labor Unions

In 1924 a statement of the United Mine Workers of America was
printed as Senate Document No. 14 of the Sixty-eighth Congress.
Because the predictions set forth in this historic document have come
true in so many instances, as revealed by the evidence received by our
committee, we desire to set forth excerpts from that document.
Among other things, the United Mine Workers in their statement said:

The United Mine Workers of America with this article begins an "expose" of
the Communist revolutionary movement in America, as promoted and fostered by
the Communist International at Moscow, and dealing with it as it involves the
welfare of the miners' union, and other similar labor organizations, and the
interests of the American people as a whole.

The purpose and object of the United Mine Workers of America in bringing to
the attention of the American people the far-reaching and intensive activities of
the Communist organizatioin in this country is twofold. The United Mine
Workers of America wants the public to know what this thing is. It wants the
public to know something about the fight which the miners' union is waging to
stamp it out. First, it desires to reveal and make known the sinister and destruc-
tive groups and elements attempting to "bore from within" its' own ranks and
membership and to seize possession of the organization, and through such seizure
to later gain possession of all legitimate trade unions; second, to inform the
American people of the scope and purport of the hostile and inimical movement
being carried on within their midst. * * *

The major points in this revolutionary program of the Communists as aimed
against the United Mine Workers of America and other legitimate trade unions
and the people of the United States and Canada arc:

1. Overthrow and destruction of the Federal, State, and Provincial govern-
ments, with the elimination of existing constitutional forms and foundations.

UN-AMERICAN ACTIVITIES AND PROPAGANDA 47

2. Establishment of a Soviet dictatorship, absolute in its exercise of power,
owing allegiance to and conceding the authority only of the Communist or Third
International at Moscow as a "governmental" substitute.

3. Destruction of all social, economic, and political institutions as they exist
at this time.

4. Seizure of all labor unions through a process of boring from within them,
and utilizing them as a strategic instrument in fulfillment of their revolutionary
designs upon organized and constitutional government.

5. Invasion of the United Mine Workers of America, with the ouster of its
present officials and leaders and the substitution of a leadership of Communists,
that it may be used as an instrumentality for seizing the other labor unions of
America, and for eventually taking possession of the country.

6. A well-organized movement is being promoted within the 4 railroad brother-
hoods and 16 railroad trade unions to amalgamate all railroad workers into one
departmentalized industrial union controlled by a single leader of Communist
principles and affiliation and owing allegiance to the Communist organization.

7. Seizure of the American Federation of Labor, with the ouster of its officials,
and through such seizure gaining control of all its affiliated units and trade-unions.

8. Conversion of aU craft trade-unions into single units of workers within an
industry known as "industrial unions," with coordination under a super-Soviet
union owing allegiance to, and accepting the mandates of, the Communist Inter-
national and its subsidiary, the Red Trade Union International, at Moscow.

Now quoting further from the report:

Immediately before the start of the miner's strike on April 1, 1922, the sum
of $1,110,000 was sent into the United States, by way of Canada, from Moscow
for the purpose of enabling the Communist agents to participate in the strike.
Behind this move was the scheme to overthrow the leadership of the union and
then convert the strike into an "armed insurrection" against the Government of
the United States. * * * Three times in 3 years the Bolshevik loaders at
Moscow have attempted armed insurrection and revolution in the United States.

* * * In each of these strikes the Communist agents, working under instruc-
tion which originated at Moscow, have sought to turn them into revolutionary
uprisings that would accomplish the overthrow of government in America and
establish in its place a proletarian dictatorship that recognized and accepted only
the mandates of the Communist International. * * * They have been par-
ticularly active in trying to "bore from within" the United Mine Workers of
America for the reasons that it is the largest single labor organization in the
country, includes a larger number of races and nationalities among its members,
and is the nearest approach, in their opinion, to one big union, which is their
ideal conception of a labor union, and their objective for all labor unions. * * *
In this attempt these Communists have met with the determined opposition of
President Lewis and other strong leaders of the miners' union, who are deter-
mined that the union shall not be converted into a Bolshevik institution. * * *
In these unions they have recognized an opportunity to get in close contact with
the labor masses, establish relations and connections with them, and imbue them
with hatred and hostility toward the existing order of things. * * * Officials
of the miners' union had known for a long while that the time was approaching
when the strength and cohesion of their organization would be sorely tried.

* * * Late in 1920 the Communist coterie at Moscow decided to launch a
new movement in America to capture the trade-unions. Their effort through
their political branches to bring about an uprising in conjunction with the steel
strike in 1919 and the "outlaw" switchmen's strike in 1920 had resulted in failure.
Samuel Gompers, with stinging denunciation, had driven back the wave of com-
munism in the unions. In only one industry, the so-called needle trades, had the
Communist movement met with any degree of success, but these organizations
were isolated from the rest of the labor movement. It was therefore manifest
that victory in America could not be achieved solely through the mediumship
of the existing Communist pohtical units. A readjustment was necessary and
it was made. A separate organization, fashioned as a national labor movement,
intended to work within the unions as a part of them — employing the process of
"boring from within" — was put into the field. Samuel Gompers, they hoped,
would be overwhelmed by it, for it was apparent that with his unyielding opposi-
tion the American Federation of Labor could never be seized or controlled by
them as long as he remained in it.

With these objects in view, Zinoviev, Losowsky, and Lenin pro-
ceeded during the next 12 months to organize the Trade Union Edu-

48 UN-AMERICAN ACTIVITIES AND PROPAGANDA

cational League. This project was put under the control of and made
amenable, as far as its work was concerned, to the central executive
committee of the Communist Party of America, and it remains so
today. William Z. Foster was selected to lead this movement. In
the spring of 1921 he went to Russia, and the understanding was that
he went there to get his instructions for the organization of the Trade
Union Educational League, gather facts about the Communist work
in Soviet Russia, the functioning of Communist ideas and theories,
and learn how the officials of the Communist International wanted
these ideas and theories applied in America through the Trade Union
Educational League,

On pages 15G and 157 of the record of the hearings of our committee
will be found the Communist instructions as set forth in Senate
Document No. 14. We suggest that the entire Senate Document
No. 14 be read because it reveals the defmite beginning of the Com-
munist policy of "boring from within" the labor unions. It describes
the plan of the Communists and their activities at that time to seize
control of strategic positions within labor unions in the mass-produc-
tion industries.

In the 192G convention of the American Federation of Labor, Dele-
gate John L. Lewis made a very strong statement, which is taken from
the minutes of the convention verbatun. It reads:

I question and seriously doubt that the average trade-unionist is particularly
concerned with the manner in which the people of Russia govern themselves and
direct their own destiny. We are fundamentally concerned, however, when that
interest which now exerts a dictatorship over 130,000,000 people in Russia syste-
matically and persistently attempts to impose their philosophy and impose their
theories of government and impose their own particular machinery and their own
specific ideas upon the workers of all the other countries of the civilized world.
And there is the precise hvib of this entire situation. When it comes to pass, as
it has come to pass and as it now exists, that the people of Russia are being taxed
and their monej's are taken from them to finance and pay for expensive propaganda
in America for the precise purpose of controlling the basic trade-union movement,
then it is indeed time for the trade-unionLsts of this country to awaken to the neces-
sity of the protection of their own affairs and the maintenance of the institutions
which they erected throughout the land. This is not the first experience of the
United Mine Workers with Communist activity. For years past our union has
been subject to their deceitful attacks, to the intrigues and to their conspiracy.
Many of you will remember that 3 or 4 years ago the United Mine Workers of
America published a r6sum6 of Communist activities in America.

Thus we have seen what the United Mine Workers and John L.
Lewis had to say with reference to the policy and practice of the Com-
munist in "boring from within" the trade-union movement. Let us
now see what the Communists had to say.

On November 16, 1935, Jack Stachel sent the following directions
or mstructions to the districts — not to the members but to the district
organizers of the Conununist Party:

1. The fifty-fifth convention marked the beginning of the decline of the extreme
right wing of the executive council of the A. F. of L. The forced resignation of
Woll from the Civic Federation, the 11,000 votes cast for the industrial form of
organization, and the final vote for a labor party showed that the militancy of tlie
rank and tile is cracking through the hard crust of upper ofl^cialdom precisely in
the decisive sections of organized labor, and is aggravating the contradiction in
which the top bureaucrats are inv61ved. Although the bureaucrats are fighting
among themselves for power upon the control of the executive council, their
struggles, at times verging on savagery, are in response to the tremendous pressure
being brought to bear upon them by the rank and file, led by an increasingly
more conscious and more efficient rank-and-file leadership which in turn is forcing
to the fore the most advanced progressive forces (local officials).

UN-AMERICAN ACTIVITIES AND PROPAGANDA 49

This condition alone is responsible for the militant character and progressive
moods of the convention. The fifty-fifth convention was different from any
other convention of the A. F. of L. since 1917, in that its struggles were based on
principles — supplied by the rank and file — and that for the first time in the
history of the A. F. of L. its delegates assembled in convention got down to bed-
rock issues — the organization of the unorganized.

Although Green succeeded in having an amendment voted to the constitution —
an amendment so weakened that it cannot have any effect on any Communist or
militant not devoid of a modicum of common sense — even this amendment —
entirely for face-saving purposes — must be acted upon by the local and State
councils, a majority of whom in the basic industries have gone on record against
any such amendment.

The amendment adopted by the convention made it impossible for any member
of the Communist Party to be a delegate to a convention of the American Federa-
tion of Labor representing a Federal labor union, a central labor union, or a State
federation of labor.

The old, conservative leadership of the A. F. of L. is tottering. Although re-
elected for another year, its power to sabotage the leftward swing of organized
labor has been paralyzed. Henceforth organized labor is definitely on the road
toward bitter and gigantic class battles— becoming consciously aware of its
increasing revolutionary role.

This set of circumstances opens new, far-reaching perspectives for the party,
particularly on the question of united front. The party and the districts must
immediately set about to exploit this unprecedented favorable situation (oppor-
tunity) by winning over to the party program and tactics (trade-union field) all
of the best elements in the A. F. of L., including State officials.

The districts must set themselves the tasks of forging working united fronts
with all progressive officials — and those officials who for whatever reason show
leftward and (or) progressive tendencies — regardless of their past record — on the
following main issues:

1. liabor Party.

2. Industrial form of organization.

At the same time, the struggle to win over the rank and file — united front
from below— must become the main task of the factions.

The districts, sections, and units must take special care to integrate all their
campaigns for united fronts from below and above into their present local and
national control tasks: The struggle against fascism and war; hands off Ethiopa;
defend the Soviet Union; the fight for a labor party; united labor tickets; the
struggle to organize the unorganized; 100 percent union towns; and the organ-
ization of the relief workers — "a local for every Works Progress Administration
project."

The ORG-DEPT deems it imperative that detailed reports on the manner in
which the above directives are being carried out should be sent in weekly to the
center.

The resolution adopted at the central committee of the Communist
Part}' meeting, January 15 to 18, 1935, in New York City, and which
will be found on pages 180 to 186 of the record of our hearings, will
corroborate the instructions issued by Jack Stachel as to the manner
in which Communists should infiltrate trade-unions and seize control
of strategic positions.

In the Daily Worker, January 13, 1937, will be found an article
written by Wilham Z. Foster, which is as follows:

Role of the C. I. O.

The C. I. O. led so progressively by John L. Lewis, is doing a historically impor-
tant thing in carrying on its vigorous campaign to organize the armies of exploited
workers in the mass-production industries. As we have seen, this campaign has
within it possibilities for a fundamental strengthening and reorganization of the
whole American labor movement.

The C. I. O. has become the actual leader of the trade-union movement. The
executive council of the A. F. of L. has shown itself opposed to this vital organiza-

50 UN-AMERICAN ACTIVITIES AND PROPAGANDA

tion work and, because of its narrow craft union and personal interests, has refused
for many years past to do the organizing that the C I. O. is now undertaking.
Had it so desired, tlie A. F. of L. could have easily organized the steel workers
during the war, or during the Coolidge period of prosperity, or during the strike
upheavals under the N. R. A. in 1933-34. But the A. F. of L. wanted nothing to
do with the organization of the steel workers. And worse yet, now that the C. I. O.
unions which are awake to the basic importance of this task to themselves, and all
other workers, re proceeding to accomplish the organizing work that the execu-
tive council has so long neglected or prevented, the executive council actually sus-
pends them, one-third of the whole labor movement, from the A. F. of L., and
thus traitorously sjjlits labor's forces in the face of the enemy. Never, even in the
shady history of the A. F. of L., has misleadership sunk to lower levels. The
A. F. of L. executive council has surrendered the actual leadership of the trade-
unions into the hands of the C. I. O.

The Communist Party heartily supports the C. I. O. organizing campaigns in
steel, automobile, rubber, glass, textile, etc., and it niol)ilizes all its forces to
assist in this work. It extends this aid for the same reason that it supports
every forward movement of the workers wherever it may originate or what form
it may take, whether it be a strike, an organization campaign, the carrying on
of independent working class political activity, or whatnot. The Communist
Party has no interests apart from those of the working class, and every victory
of the workers is a victory for the Communist Party.

William Weinstone, who is a member of the central committee of
the Communist Party, wrote a book luiowTi as The Great Sit-Down
Strike. Mr. Weinstone was the district organizer of district No. 7,
Communist Party headquarters, Detroit. He was bom in Russia;
joined the Socialist Party in this country in 1915; one of the first
members of the executive committee of the Communist Party.
WTien the central committee was created he became one of the leaders.

In connection vdih liis report on the automobile organizing cam-
paign and the automobile strike, we quote from pages 36, 38, and 45:

In the first place must be mentioned the work of the Communist members of
the union as well as the work of the Communist Party Itself.

What were the activities of the Communists? The Communists and the Com-
munist Party gave the most loyal backing and support to the strike, to the aims,
policies, and activities of the union and the C. I. O. The Communists worked
ardently and earnestly in helping to build up the union and tried in every way
possible to properly prepare the strike so that it would rest upon a strong founda-
tion. In the strike itself the Communists sought to imbue the strikers and the
workers generally with the greatest discipline, organization, and perseverance.
There is no doul)t that where the Communists were active and took an outstanding
part, particularly at the most decisive points of the struggle, there the strike was
strongest, and this made for the success of the whole battle.

The existence of groups of Communists within the shops was undoubtedly
of great help because thereby a corps of experienced people were in the shops 4o
help in the solution of the new problems connected with tlie sit-down. The
shop form of organization, the shop groups [units], has more than justified itself.
Wliere the party organization paid attention to these units, there the efforts of
many years of work were fully rewarded.

In conclusion, the strike of the automobile workers reveals the new forces
that are at work within the country, forces which are driving toward an extension
and strengthening of the labor movement and which are welding also the unity
of the working class and of all progressive-minded people, a process which is giving
rise to the growth of a real people's movement — a real people's united front —
a movement which will embrace also the most aggressive revolutionary-minded
section of the working class — the Communists and the Communist Party.

To illustrate how the Communists seize strategic positions in certain
unions alliliated with the C, I. O., and what part the Communists
played in the activities and policies of these unions, we will quote
from the testimony of Zygmund Dobrzynski.

Mr. Dobrzynski has lived in Detroit all of his life. He is 26 years
of age and a graduate of Eastern High School of Detroit. He is a

UN-AMERICAN ACTIVITIES AND PROPAGANDA 51

member of Local Union 205, which is the fiber local in the United
Automobile Workers of America. His official capacity is national
director of the organizing committee of the United Automobile Work-
ers of America Ford drive. It is his function to supervise the organi-
zation of the workers in the Ford plant. There are approximately
4,000 members in his local. It is a key local insofar as it manufac-
tures the interior body trimmings for all the automobiles of all the
major companies: Chrysler, General Motors, and Ford. To show
from the testimony of Mr. Dobrzynski how important his local is
we quote the following questions and answers-

The Chairman. In other words, what would happen to the industry if this local
went on a strike, let us say?

Mr. Dobrzynski. Well, the industry would be eventually forced to shut
down. ♦ * *

The Chairman. Would that be confined to the Detroit area?

Mr. Dobrzynski. No; it would paralyze practically the national organization
of the three major independent companies I mentioned. * * *

The Chairman. In other words, in order to understand you correctly, your
local 205 is so constituted that it is in a position to paralyze the whole industry?

Mr. Dobrzynski. That is right.

To show that Mr. Dobrzynski is well qualified to testify, I quote
from his testimony as follows:

The Chairman. Do you work inside the plant now?

Mr. Dobrzynski. I do not work inside the plant now. I am a full-time organ-
izer of the U. A. W. at the present time.

The Chairman. Has your work brought you in contact with the entire labor
movement insofar as the U. A. W is concerned?

Mr. Dobrzynski. Yes; pretty much so.

The Chairman. You have had occasion to contact the various officers and di-
rectors and organizers throughout that entire area; is that true?

Mr. Dobrzynski. That is correct.

The Chairman. In the course of your activities as organizer and even before
then, from the very beginning, we will say 1936, have you had occasion to observe
the activities of Communists within the labor unions?

Mr. Dobrzynski. Yes; very much so.

The Chairman. Would you say it has been considerable experience that you
have had?

Mr. Dobrzynski. Yes; it has been a considerable experience; considerable
trouble.

Mr. Dobrzynski testified as follows:

Mr. Dobrzynski. Well I met Weinstone [WiUiam Weinstone] in the spring of
1937; May 1937. He was the State secretary of the Communist Party. Since
then he has been transferred, I understand, to New York City. He sent an
emissary around, a man by the name of Miller, I could not teU you his full name,
who represented himself as the sectional organizer of that particular section, the
north Detroit section of the Communist Party. This individual, of course, hung
around the headquarters of the local union and often offered his assistance in
turning out literature and peddling literature, and so forth. We used him to
peddle literature. We never knew who he was at that time. The organization
was growing so fast, we took anybody's assistance. We never knew who he was.
But later he identified himself to me as a sectional organizer of the north Detroit
section of the Communist Party and said — I was president of the local at that
particular time — and said that WiUiam Weinstone wanted to speak to me.

The Chairman. You first consulted the leadership of your union?

Mr. Dobrzynski. Yes.

The Chairman. What did you decide on — what did you and they decide on?

Mr. Dobrzynski. They suggested that I go and talk to him, find out what he
had to say; because at that time the leadership was inexperienced in methods of
counteracting the activities of the Communist Party in the union and they thought
it would be wise if I talked to Weinstone for my own benefit and for my own local
union, insofar as information was concerned, and for the benefit of the union as
a whole. * * * j really had two conferences with him, one following the

52 UN-AMERICAN ACTIVITIES AND PROPAGANDA

other, 2 days in a row. One was about 2 hours in duration. * * * Well, he
mentioned the fact that it was a key local in the automotive industry, and it was
a very strategic one for any organization to control. * * * He said they
could use it as a sort of reserve to paralyze or shut down the automotive in-
dustries if the other defenses they would build up would fail. He was speaiving of
his organization controlling it, naturally — the Communist Party. * * * "^'he
local union elections were coming up and he was interested in getting certain of
his people as members of the Communist Party or sympathizers — I would not
swear tliey are members; some arc sympathizers and some merely work with the
Communist Party in the union movement, for jiersonal gain. But he wanted me
to place certain people on the local executive board, one as a vice president and
two — that is, one as a treasurer and one as a financial secretary. The funds
seemed to be of interest to him. * * * He also mentioned the fact that the
steward, the position of steward in the shop — the steward is the man who takes
care of grievances, negotiates the grievances with the head of the department,
from the side of the management, rather — and he was interested in getting a num-
ber of men placed as stewards in these departments. At tliat time I, due to the
rai)id grt)wth of the organization — I appointed stewards imtil the time came when
the organization became consolidated sufficiently where the membership itself
could elect them. That is the reason he was interested in influencing me to
place certain men as stewards, "men who were clo.se to the Communist Party."

The Ch.mrm.\n. Now if they had succeeded in placing Communists or Com-
muni.st sympathizers in the positions of treasurer, secretary, and stewards, what
would those positions have meant from the standpoint of the control of the
union?

Mr. DoBRZYNSKi. Well, they would have had control over the address and
every name of the membership, or the entire membership of the local union.
That is one thing. Secondly, they would have control of the finances and would
naturally be able to influence the spending of the funds. Thirdly, the vice
president could be used to counteract me if I ever became antagonistic to their
methods in the union. * * * Well, having that number of men on the
executive board, they would probably have been in a position to direct the policy
of the union. ♦ * * He [William Wcinstone] told me I was a smart young
fellow, and would go a long ways in this thing if I would follow the proper line.

The Ch-^iuman. Did he tell you about their success in other unions?

Mr. DoBUZYNSKi. Oh, j'es; he enumerated quite a number of their own mem-
bers— he was trying to impress me with the strength of this organization — he
enumerated quite a number of people w^ho were working closely with the Com-
munist Party at that time. * * * According to his statement, which I think
was exaggerated, they [Communists] practically controlled the union, but I think
that they do not. He was trying to give that impression. Ho mentioned so
many on the board or among the leading officers of the international union who
were working with them at that particular time.

The Chairman. Did he say anything with reference to their ability to tie up
the automobile industry, the glass industry, the rubber industry, or any other
industries?

Mr. DoRRZYNSKi. He did state that they carried on quite a bit of organiza-
tional work in the rubber and glass unions, and he did cmpha.iize the fact that
the automotive industry was the center where the Communist Party had con-
centrated most of its forces, its most capable people, and a large amount of its
funds. He pointed out the political significance which the automobile industry
has to the Soviet Union, so far as pressure against the Government is concerned.
He [WeinstoneJ stated the fact that the auotmobile industry has a tremendous
infiuence on the glass, rubber, steel, and many other industries, but primarily
the glass, rubber, and steel, which are heavy industries, and that the Commimist
Party by controlling the unions, by having people such as me ♦ • • working
throughout the trades, they knew they could wield tremendous pressure again.st
the Government insofar as securing concessions for the Soviet Union was con-
cerned.

The Chairman. You say he told you about the tactics and strategy that they
used: will you tell us something about that?

Mr. DoRRZYNSKi. He outlined to me, first, that they had meetings of people
In the unions who were their members, and they would have meetings outside
of the union of the Communist Party Trade Union Unit. At that time they
called them fractions. I do not know what they call them today. They will
discuss among themselves the methods to be used in gaining control and advocat-
ing whatever the leadership opposed them with, and then by cooperating with a
email group, by preparing motions ahead of time, having discussions ahead of

UN-AMERICAN ACTIVITIES AND PROPAGANDA 53

time, and then by dividing up in various sections of the hall, they would give the
impression that the particular policy which they were trying to have the meeting
adopt was generally supported throughout the membership. Since most of them
are fairly capable speakers, due to experience, they were able to make the local
unions put across motions that the membership did not agree to but did not
know how to combat.

The Chairman. Do you know of your own knowledge that that method was
carried out?

Mr. DoBRZTNSKi. In my local union?

The Chairman. Yes.

Mr. DoBRZTNSKi. Yes, sir. Some members are identified as carrying out
Communist Party plans, or people from those organizations would come to us.
We were a very democratic organization, and would let almost any organization
speak to us. They would make their appeals, and it was very apparent that
they were prearranged. I mean that by offering motions after the speech would
denote that it was all prearranged ahead of time, and that it worked with machine-
like precision.

Speaking of contributions made by unions to Communist organi-
zation, Mr. Dobrzynski had the following to say:

Mr. Dobrzynski. They (Communists) have a number of dummy organizations
where they do draw a lot of innocents on some popular question. It might be
against war; it might be against starving children in Spain, or some other cause
which appears worthy, and would be worthy if it was carried out to that par-
ticular end. Nevertheless, they do draw in a lot of people; and by their superior
knowledge of the organizational structure and maneuvers, parliamentary pro-
cedure, and all those things, they are able to control the national offices of those
particular organizations. * * * And in these organizations, in speaking to
Weinstone and the sectional organizer of the Communist Party, Miller, that I
mentioned before, they brought out the information that these organizations con-
tributed to the Communist Party in the following manner: One would donate to
the Daily Worker fund — they have funds once in a while for the Daily Worker —
or some other particular party fund, and in this way the treasury of the Com-
munist Party would be enriched. Also on the staflF of these various organizations,
on the pay roll of these organizations, they place their people, and their people
draw the wages, and naturally contribute a certain portion of those wages to the
Communist Party. * * * -pj^g usual procedure is — of course now the locals
are tightening up a little on it— but the usual procedure would be that anybody
from an outside organization who wants to take the floor, they give him the oppor-
tunity, and as soon as he makes an appeal for Spanish children, and what not,
then some fellow who has been associated with the Communist Party, or has been
falling into line, bobs up on the floor and immediately makes a motion to accept —
to make a contribution of so many dollars — and somebody else seconds it imme-
diately. Then that is usually followed by a very emotional speech by somebody
else who is affiliated with the group, and the thing is usually carried.

Mr. MosiER. In other words, your local union, when it contributed its money,
was really contributing money to aid and further the cause of the Communist
Party in America?

Mr. Dobrzynski. That is the way it would be.

The Chairman. You say that in these organizations that they set up or control,
most of the people in the organizations are innocent?

Mr. Dobrzynski. That is my opinion, because I do happen to know many
people who belong to these organizations, the women especially.

The Chairman. What part have the "Communists played in those unauthorized
strikes? Have they played a prominent part?

Mr. Dobrzynski. WeU, no doubt; and I know this: In fact, I was threatened
with an unauthorized strike in my plant; because of the fact that I attacked the
Communist Party. I do know that the Communist Party elements have de-
liberately gone out in many instances. * * *

The Chairman. Well, if the Communists have control of some department,
can they bring on a general strike by their actions?

Mr. Dobrzynski. It is possible, and I beheve it has been done in some

cases.

* * *

The Chairman. Now, what is the difference between the objectives of legitimate
trade unionists * * * what you are trying to do and what the Communists
axe seeking to do by their labor activities?

Mr. Dobrzynski. Generally speaking, the objective of legitimate trade union-
ists in a legitimate trade union is to better the condition of the working men and

54 UN-AMKKICAN ACTIVITIES AND PROPAGANDA

women in the plant by means of an understanding with the emploj'er, if at all
possible. * * * On the other hand, the aims of the Communist Party
toward the union are not so much to gain economic benefits for the emploj'ees as
to use it as a political weapon. * ♦ *

Mr. MosiEK. Most of the members of the United Automobile Workers are in
Micliigan, are they not?

Mr. DoBRZTNSKi. Yes, sir; about 70 percent of them.

Mr. MosiER. And approximately how large a membership is there in the
United Automoljile Workers?

Mr. DoBRZYNSKi. Well it is difficult to tell. It runs somewhere between
800,000 and 400,000.

Mr. MosiER. And you have been closely associated in that work, and not
only you, but others in the work have had a great deal of trouble with the Com-
munists?

Mr. DoBRZYNSKi. That is true. I would like to state this: That in the begin-
ning of our organization many people who are not Communists fell into the
mistake of giving the Communist Party elements full leeway. That is, they
welcomed any cooperation. * * * Therefore, the Communist Party, which
had only a small number of people comparatively, worked together in unison,
and they did manage to secure control of certain sectiojis of the organiza-
tion. * * ♦

Mr. Dobrzynski further testified as follows:

Mr. Dobrzynski. I would like to state, in order to avoid confusion as to the
Intention of my testimony, that I was subpenaed and asked to testify and answer
whatever questions were asked me and give whatever information I had to dis-
pose of; and I would also like to state that my intentions are not to harm the
unions. In other words, by the essence or the weight of my own testimony, I do
not intend it as antiunion propaganda, but as a means of benefiting the union, of
clarifying and assisting to eliminate the forces which threaten to destroy it.

The Chairm.w. Would you say, from your own knowledge and experience,
that the Communists in the United States are under the control of the Third
International?

Mr. Dobrzynski. That is true.

Mr. Dobrzynski further testified as follows:

During the first organizational days, when the U. A. W. was first formed, and
the men were beginning to recognize that unionism w^as the thing they needed,
they came in by the hundreds; the automobile industry was made up of men,
primarily, who had never been in any union before, and who were completely
inexperienced, not knowing even how to make a motion on the floor. Now
they are much more experienced than they were before. They are learning.
These members of the Communist Party knew how to speak; some of them had
extensive soap-box experience, and experience in other organizations, and they
took advantage of this fact. It is very simple for a man who understands public
speaking and the parliamentary rules to control a meeting of uninitiated people.
It is very simple. I have found that out myself, that it is very simple.

The Chairman. Did not the Communist Party have a workers' school in
Detroit, where they trained people?

Mr. Dobrzynski. I know they did, becaiise some of these Communists have
been going around, boasting of the fact, that they were trained. Although I do
not know how much of a school they had in Detroit, I do know many of them
have been sent to New York City to study.

We have quoted at length from the testimony of Mr. Dobrzynsld
because of the important position he holds in the U. A. W. A.; and
is an outstanding labor leader. His testimony merely corroborates
the testimony of numerous other witnesses both in and out of the
unions.

We also desire to quote from the testimony of Felix J. McCartney.
Mr. McCartney works in the Plymouth plant and testified that there
were approximately 12,000 people employed in this plant. He testified
that ho was a member of the International Union, United Auto-
mobile Workers of America, and that his local is Plymouth Local 51.

UN-AMERICAN ACTIVITIES AND PROPAGANDA 55

The Chairman. How long have you been a member of that union?

Mr. McCartney. I first joined that union in December 1935, and I paid one
of its dues. Then I did not pay any dues again until January 1937. I wai
reinstated in the union in January 1937.

The Chairman. Are you now a member in good standing?

Mr. McCartney. Yes, sir; I am a member in good standing.

The Chairman. Did you ever hold any office in the union?

Mr. McCartney. I was chairman of the negotiating committee, commonly
known as the shop committee of the plant, in the Plymouth local union.

The Chairman. Were you acquainted with large numbers of the laboring
people in the Plymouth factory?

Mr. McCartney. As a matter of fact, I am just about as well acquainted with
the laboring class of people in the plant as anybody who works in there.

The Chairman. Why is that?

Mr. McCartney. Simply because as chairman of the negotiating committee,
I go around to all the departments, and all the people who had grievances would
bring them to the chairman of the negotiating committee.

The Chairman. You stated a few moments ago that the Plymouth unit or
the Plymouth factory was a hotbed of communism. What did you mean by that?

Mr. McCartney. By that I mean that the strategic positions in the local
union are held by members of the Communist Party.

The Chairman. About how many locals are operating in the Plymouth factory?

Mr. McCartney. There is only one local. That local is No. 51, and it is cut
up into districts, of which there are 24 districts in the local union. Over those
districts are people known as district chief committeemen, and under them, of
course, are the stewards.

The Chairman. Approximately, how many members are there in that local?
Can you give some rough estimate of the number?

Mr. McCartney. I would judge that there are between three and four hundred
people now Communists in this local union, but only about 100 really take an
active part.

The Chairman. You are referring to the Communists. How many members
does the union have altogether?

Mr. McCartney. Out of the 12,000 people?

The Chairman. Yes.

Mr. McCartney. I would say there are close to 10,000 people who are paid up
in dues and are in good standing in the local union.

The Chairman. And you say that of the 300 Communist members, about 100
are active. Is that right?

Mr. McCartney. About 100 are active as out and aboveboard in everything.
They are leaders and work for the movement at all times.

The Chairman. Do the other 200 Communists cooperate with them in the
movement?

Mr. McCartney. Only in respect of attending meetings of the most important
kind, or to vote on vital questions.

The Chairman. What strategic positions do the Communists hold within the
union?

Mr. McCartney. At the present time, in my estimation, the highest position
in the local union is held by a man by the name of Mike Duletsky. He is financial
secretary of the Plymouth Local Union, and he has access to the records. As a
matter of fact, he looks after the funds and finances, looks after all the records, and
gives the members the literature that comes in and goes out of that office.

The Chairman. It is a strategic position from the standpoint of his ability to
propagandize and influence the membership.

Mr. McCartney. That is right. It is one of the reasons I had in mind, that
the files and the records of the local union office, have been used for that purpose.
They have picked out the most militant people in the plant to whom to send the
Communist Hterature. As a matter of fact, I have received Communist literature
through the mail.

The Chairman. Is Mike Duletsky a Communist?

Mr. McCartney. He certainly is.

The Chairman. How do you know that?

Mr. McCartney. He admits it. As a matter of fact, he not only admits it,
but I know as a fact that he attends the Communist Party meetings and takes a
most prominent part in them. I cannot find out what position he holds in the
Plymouth unit of the Communist Party.

56 UN-AMERICAN ACTIVITIES AND TROPAGANDA

Mr. McCartney. Walter Christie at that time was a guide officer of the local
union, and a member of the executive board.

The Chairman. Of what union?

Mr. McCartney. Of the executive board of this local union.

The Chairman. Is he a Communist?

Mr. McCartney. Yes, sir; he is a Communist. It so happened that just
prior to this meeting it is a fact tliat Paul Benj'o, through Walter Christie, and
the president of the local at that time, who was William Frankowski, had joined
the CommunLst Part\'. That is how Paul Benyo joined the Communist Party.
As a matter of fact, I have this evidence of his Communist Party due book, and
the information relative to his joining.

The Chairman. I was aking you about Mr. Raymond Bascom, as to who he is.

Mr. McCartney. Raymond Bascom: The first time I saw this Raymond
Bascom, he was introduced to the executive board by Mike Dulctsky as a very
intelligent man and as an educator of several of the local unions, and he made the
suggestion to the executive board very strongly — in which he held quite a bit of
weight — that we secure the services of this Mr. Bascom as educational director
of the local union. This was accepted by the local executive board, and he voted
$20 a week as salary. Mr. Bascom did not work in the Plymouth i)lant, and he
stated to me later that he had never worked in an automobile factory. In the
course of some of the educational classes that he conducted in the union hall he
had charts on the wall where he pointed out how superior the form of government
was over in Russia over the capitalistic form of government.

The Chairman. Now, passing from Mr. Bascom to Mr. Crump, did you know
Mr. Crump?

Mr. McCartney. Yes; I do.

The Chairman. Can you tell us something about Mr. Crump?

Mr. McCartney. I would just like to say this much further on this Ray
Bascom, relative to his membership in the Communist Party. He was, when this
information came to me — that has just been of late — chairman of the Plymouth
unit of the Connnunist Party.

The Chairman. Now let us pass from Mr. Bascom to this Mr. Crump.

Mr. McCartney. Barney Crump. * * * Barney is his first name. * * *
He is known as the unit organizer for the Communist Party. The position he
holds in the union is an executive board member of the Plymouth local, and he is
also a member of the negotiating committee and a district committeeman on the
second shift. * * * He carries quite a bit of weight with the workers.

This witness testified with reference to other Communists who held
key positions in his locaL He gave their names and positions in tho
local. We do not have time to quote liis testimony with respect to
these various Communists who occupy strategic positions in tliis local.
But to those who want specific facts as to the penetration of the labor
movement by Conmiunists we recommend the reading of this man's
testimony. However, we do want to quote further from his testimony:

The Chairman. Do they (Communists) want to improve working conditions?

Mr. McCartney. That is not their aim, they do not want satisfaction; they
want dissatisfaction, because if we were to improve their working conditions, they
would be lost in the wind. * * *

The Chairman. What you are primarily interested in is an improvement in
working conditions?

Mr. McCartney. Improved working conditions and a fair share of the profits
which the people whom we work for make.

The Chairman. If you can accomplish that through peaceful means would
you rather do that than through a strike?

Mr. McCartney. I would much rather do it through peaceful means.

The Chairman. Whereas the Communists' objective is to seize upon dissatis-
faction and complaints as an excuse for promoting communism and bring about
revolution; is not that a fact?

Mr. McCartney. That is right; that is their objective.

The Chairman. Do you think they (Communists) are in control of that
union?

Mr. McCartney. Oh, they are, without doubt. They could put a motion on
the floor right now to vote the finances to bring Browder or Foster up to talk,
and it would pass.

UN-AMERICAN ACTIVITIES AND PROPAGANDA 57

The Chairman. You mean that this local there with 10,000 members is under
the control of those Communists.

Mr. McCartney. Yes, I do, Mr. Dies, for this reason. The good people that
have attended these meetings have become so discouraged by the action of these
Communists in prolonging any discussion about any action that would be of any
benefit to the workers^ — -that is, a motion or a resolution would be put on the
floor looking to the benefit of the workers, and these people would get up and
talk against it so long, and prolong the meeting, these people would get so dis-
couraged, the good people, that they would leave the meeting. At one time
we had three to four thousand people, when the union was first recognized by
the corporation — -we had around three or four thousand people attending all our
meetings. * * *

The Chairman. What is the average number now who attend the meetings?

Mr. McCartney. Right at present, I judge there are close to 250 to 300
people. It jumps anvwhere from 100 to 300 people now.

The Chairman. Out of 10,000?

Mr. McCartney. Out of 10,000.

The Chairman. What is true with reference to the other locals, so far as
Communist control is concerned?

Mr. McCartney. It works the same in the other locals as it has in ours. In
other words, we take, for instance, the Murray Body local. I could not say
positively, but this fellow will admit that he is a Communist, this fellow Lloyd
Jones, who is the president of that local. Of course, on the other hand, we will
take the Packard local, those fellows just went right to the front and beat the
living hell out of these boys and they shoved them right out of these positions.

The Chairman. Of what local is Lloyd Jones president?

Mr. McCartney. Murray Body No. 2.

The Chairman. Have they a large membership?

Mr. McCartney. Yes; they have quite a large membership.

The Chairman. Would you say that that local is under the control of the
Communists?

Mr. McCartney. Yes; positively. There was one meeting where the boys
went to the meeting and were carrying clubs. They carried clubs about that
long [illustrating].

As illustrative of the difficulty which the committee experienced in
getting witnesses to testify with regard to the facts, we quote from
Mr. McCartney's testimony, as follows:

The Chairman. The report that reached the Chair was that you did not want
to appear.

Mr. McCartney. That is true.

The Chairman. Can you explain why you did not want to appear before the
committee and testify?

Mr. McCartney. Yes, sir; I could.

The CmviRMAN. Do you want to explain it?

Mr. McCartney. Yes, sir; there are several reasons why I did not wish to
appear before the committee here. One reason is that certain pamphlets were
passed out to the employees of the automobile plant at which I work. Those
pamphlets inflamed the minds of the working people at the plant against this
committee. There is one pamphlet I have here which I would like to produce at
this time as evidence. The heading of the pamphlet was, "Who is the Dies
Committee, and who are the people who testify before the Dies Commit-
tee." * * * I cannot state that all-the pamphlets were distributed by Com-
munist people, or people who belonged to the Communist Party but some of the
people who distributed those pamphlets were Communists. * * * Per-
Bonallv, I am strong supporter of Gov. Frank Murphy, the present Governor, and
it appeared to the working class of people in the plants that when the Dies Com-
mittee brought into light the aspect of the Detroit and Fhnt situation, it embar-
rassed politically the union's campaign for Governor Murphy's reelection.

Another witness who testified is Eichard Eager. He works for the
Ternstedt manufacturing division of General Motors. This division
manufactures automobile hardware and employs between 10,000 and
12,000 people. Mr. Eager is a die-cast operator. He testified that he
was a member of Local 174 of the United Automobile Workers, which
is affiliated with the C. I. O. ; that there are about 32,000 members

58 UN-AMERICAN ACTIVITIES AND PROPAGANDA

of that local. He testified that he was plant chairman of the Ternstedt
and chairman of the top or bargaining committee of Ternstedt; that
the union collected as dues $1 a month from each member and that
37}^ cents of the dollar goes to the international union and the balance
stays in the local treasury.

Mr. MosiER. As to all the other men In the plant, do they appreciate the fact
that these Communists are trying to elect Communists?

Mr. Eagar. It is not generally known in the plant, because if any man from
the plant tries to run for any office, unless he has the support of the Communist
Party, there is not much chance of his getting elected.

Mr. MosiER. There is not much chance?

Mr. Eagar. No.

Mr. MosiER. Are they so strong that they can block the election of a man
In the plant?

Mr. Eagar. The average man working in the plant has not any organization
at the back of him, and they (Communists) have got key men throughout the
plant, and their men then campaign for a certain slate throughout the entire
plant; therefore, a man who has not got any organization to back him up has
not got much chance of getting elected.

Mr. MosiER. What influence do they exercise? I think you told the com-
mittee, or, at least, I gathered from what you said that they (Communists) have
the dominating control of your plant.

Mr. Eagar. Yes, sir.

Mr. MosiER. They elect the officers.

Mr. Eagar. Yes, sir. Some of them are local officers.

Mr. MosiER. Do those men admit that they are members of the Communist
Party, or do you just think they are? How do you really know they are?

Mr. Eagar. While I was plant chairman of Ternstedt, I was called into several
Communist unit meetings on questions of policy that the Communist unit would
like to see put through in Ternstedt.

Mr. MosiER. You were called into unit meetings?

Mr. Eagar. Yes, sir.

Mr. MosiER. On questions of policy that the Communist group wanted
adopted?

Mr. Eagar. Yes, sir.

Mr. MosiER. And there you saw certain people present.

Mr. Kagar. Yes, sir.

Mr. MosiER. Purportedly representing the Conomunist Party.

Mr. Eagar. Yes, sir.

Mr. MosiER. You say that your unit has 10,000 members.

Mr. PJagar. Yes, sir.

Mr. MosiER. When you have a meeting of your unit how many of those
members will attend, as a general rule?

Mr. Eagar. When we first started the organization there would probably be
1,000 people attending the meetings, but after a while the plant meetings feell
down until we have had at the last few plant meetings probably not more than
150 people.

Mr. MosiER. So that this small Communist group would come into a meeting
of 150 members and accomplish some objectives that they could not accomplish
if you had three or four thousand present. Is that true?

Mr. Eagar. That is correct.

Mr. MosiER. Will you tell the committee just for the purposes of the record
what you do? Describe a meeting that you have had of your local where the
Communists tried to have some kind of motion or resolution adopted. How do
they do it?

Mr. Eagar. It is generally done in this manner: They first contact whoever is
the plant chairman and, after they make the motion, he is supposed to recognize
only those people who will speak in favor of the motion. Secondly, they will
have one of their group to move the previous question. That shuts off debate.
They will wrangle over the question before they call the previous question. They
will talk a long time and the people will get tired of listening, so that when the
previous question comes up they are anxious to get the question oil the floor. They
put it over in that way. They usually accomplish their purposes in the vote,
while nobody in the opposition has an opportunity to speak.

Mr. MosiER. Do you know whether or not those tactics that are employed In
passing resolutions are planned before hand, or before the meeting is held?

Mr. Eagar. Yes, sir; it is planned.

UN-AMERICAN ACTIVITIES AND PROPAGANDA 59

Mr. MosiER. Do you know why more of the men in this industrial plant do
not attend any of those meetings? Are tliere any reasons you know for their
staying away?

Mr. Eagar. Most of them that speak to me on that particular subject say this,
that "When we go to a plant meeting, we want to discuss the affairs of our plant,
and we are not interested in what is going on in Spain, China, Russia, Germany,
or anywhere else." They say, "When we go to meetings, we always have suffered
from a whole lot of talk on questions that we are not interested in." That is the
reason they stay away.

Mr. M OSIER. The discussion of those questions comes from this group of
Communists within your unit.

Mr. Eagar. Yes, sir.

Mr. M OSIER. You came before this committee in response to a subpena issued
by the committee, did you not?

Mr. Eagar. Yes, sir.

Mr. MosiER. You are not a so-called labor spy?

Mr. Eagar. No, sir.

Mr. MosiER. You are not appearing here for any capitalist or employer in any
capacity, to say anything about these people to tlie committee.

Mr. Eagar. No, sir.

Mr. MosiER. You are still on the committee for your plant, and are a delegate
to the joint council?

Mr. Eagar. Yes, sir.

Mr. MosiER. From your experience in this unit of your plant, and from your
experience as an official of the unit, what would you say as to whether or not the
policies of that unit in your plant are controlled b)"^ the Communist Party?

Mr. Eagar. Well, the policies in our local and in our plants are controlled by
the Communist Party.

Mr. MosiER. It is your observation is it not, that Communists do not care
about numbers, or large numbers, but what they want are the strategic positions
in the organizations?

Mr. Eagar. Yes, sir.

Mr. MosiER. Is that what they tried to do in your organization?

Mr. Eagar. That is what it seems to be.

Mr. MosiER. I think that, perhaps, you have mentioned the political affiliations
of some of the officials of your local plant. Could you give that to us? Could you
give us the political affiliations of the officers of your local union?

Mr. Eagar. I can give it for quite a few of them.

Mr. MosiER. For the purposes of the record, go right ahead and tell us. For
instance, there is Reuther, the president.

Mr. Eagar. He is a Socialist or a radical Socialist or revolutionary Socialist.

Mr. MosiER. Which one of the Reuthers is president?

Mr. Eagar. Walter Reuther is president.

Mr. MosiER. And Victor Reuther?

Mr. Eagar. He is organizer of the local.

Mr. MosiER. With what party is he affiliated?

Mr. Eagar. He was also discharged from the international union, and rehired
by our local.

Mr. MosiER. Does he belong to the Socialist Party or the Communist Party?

Mr. Eagar. To the Socialist Party.

Mr. MosiER. How about George Edwards?

Mr. Eagar. He belongs to the Socialist Party. He is organizer in our local.

Mr. MosiER. How about Chuck Walters?

Mr. Eagar. He is an organizer, and -belongs to the Socialist Party.

Mr. MosiER. What is Bill McKie?

Mr. Eagar. He is an organizer, and a member of the Communist Party.

Mr. MosiER. What about Hartley?

Mr. Eagar. Hartley is a welfare director, and is a Communist Party member.

Mr. MosiER. What about Martha Strong?

Mr. Eagar. She is an executive-board member, and is in the Communist
Party.

This witness named other officials in his local who were members
of the Communist Party.

We have quoted from the testimony of these witnesses to illustrate
how the Communists have permeated certain labor unions affiliated
with the C. I. O. This testimony is typical of the testimony of numer-
ous other witnesses to the same effect.

go UN-AMERICAN ACTIVITIES AND PROPAGANDA

This committee heard testimony from Mr. Homer Martin, president
of the I'nited Automobile Workers of America. Mr. Martin was caus-
tic in his criticism of other witnesses who had appeared before thia
committee, but it is important to observe that his own testimony,
nevertheless, corroborated in every important detail the testimony of
the other witnesses whom he criticized. The committee confronted
Mr. Ma"tin with the stenographic reports of two speeches he had re-
cently made and asked him if certain statements contained in those
speeches were correct.

Important excerpts from Mr. Homer Martin's testimony follow:

The CuAiKMAN. Would it be correct to say that (reading Martin's speeches):
"There are those who have been in positions of leadership in our organization, first
through the idea of personal gain or with other interests, who have sought to make
that organization something else than that. And I am not trying to raise a 'red
scare.' I am not 'red baiting' when I say that the Communist Party has put
forth every possible effort, that they could put forth, to capture the entire labor
movement of this country."

Is that correct?

Mr. Martin. Yes, sir; that is correct.

The Chairman (reading). "I am not raising a 'red scare' about it. I am telling
Tou what I know from experience to be the facts. I am not asking anybody 'to
take the torch,' so to speak, or just hearsay, I know whereof I speak.

"The United Automobile Workers of America is the strongest single new
organization in the C. I. O. The other organizations are not so strong, although
there are some of them that are fairly strong. The capture of the United Automo-
bile Workers of America was the first goal, and the most important goal, of the
Communist Party. I have letters in my office sent out by the Communist Party
to our membership, the names and addresses of which they had gotten by manipu-
lating themselves into office, telling them that very thing. The United Automo-
bile Workers of America is one of the strongest and most important organizations of
labor, and the first goal of tlie Communist Part}', and of a good Communist, is to
take control of the U. A. W. A."

Is that correct?

Mr. Martin. That is correct.

The Chairman. Would it be correct to say as follows [reading from reports of
Martin's speeches]: "In order to further their plan and their hopes of gaining
control, they have worked in various ways. One, of course, is to get the local
Communist leaders elected to positions of influence — presidents of unions."

Is that correct?

Mr. Martin. That is correct.

The Chairman. Would this be correct [reading]: "The other day at the demon-
etration, and if j'ou had been down, if you just happened to stroll along the park
outside of the Griswold Building, you would have seen what I saw, where more
than half of the congregation out there were known Communist leaders. One
Mr. Stone was out tlxre, the president of one of our local unions, a known Com-
munist Party leader, who made this assertion: 'I am in the U. A. W. A., but the
Communist Party comes first'."

Is that correct?

Mr. Martin. That is correct.

The Chairman. Would this be correct? [Reading from Martin's speeches]:
"They seek, of course, to get their people in positions of leadership. One of the
principal offices they tried to get was the financial secretar3'ship; that seems to be
the first goal, to get a hold of the financial secretaryship because he has something
to do with the money."

Is that correct?

Mr. Martin. I think that is correct.

**♦♦•••
The Chairman. Would this statement be correct? [Reading]: "Then, of course,
they (the Communists) manipulate to get their people elected by several ma-
neuvers. One thing, of cour^-e, is to misrepresent the facts. They are absolutely
unscrupulous. They lie with all the facihty in the world. They have no morals
concerning their activities, when it comes to accomjjlishing their end, namely, to
take over the local union or the international union."

((

UN-AMERICAN ACTIVITIES AND PROPAGANDA gl

Ib that correct?

Mr. Martin. That is correct.

* * * * 4i * ^

The Chairman. Would this be correct [reading from Martin's speeches]?
Every issue that the Communist Party has raised, with not one single exception,
they have not been honest in it. They have raised false issues, both into the local
unions and in the International union, to bring discredit upon all those who refuse
to bow to their dictatoring along with them,"
Is that a correct statement?
Mr. Martin. That is correct.

*******

The Chairman. Is this correct: [reading from speeches.] "Let me give you an
illustration. Six months ago Richard T. Frankensteen was a hated red-baiter of
the worst type, who was not to be gotten at any expense. Suddenly, over night,
Mr. Frankensteen becoines a little more 'Kosher,' and we find the Daily Worker
beginning to print his picture and beginning to write little articles, at first, about
him, and beginning to talk about what a wonderful, and finally, what a really
great labor leader he was.

"That change in attitude came immediately after a conference in Atlantic
City at the C. I. O. convention, where for the first time I knew that Frankensteen
had met Gobart and Hathaway of the Communist Party. For days he was with
them there. He ate with them, stayed with them, conversed with them, met
with them, and all the rest. Immediately thereafter all the heat began to be
taken off of Mr. Frankensteen and all the heat was directed at me."

Is that a correct statement?

Mr. Martin. Relative to the attitude and activities of the Communist Party,
that is correct.

The Chairman. In order to clear that up, let me say again, as the members of
this committee have said time and time again, that the evidence is very clear that
the overwhelming majority of the men in the C. I. O. and other organizations are
loyal American citizens. There has never been any intimation that the Com-
munist Party has any large percentage of membership there.

The testimony before this committee, with which I think you will agree, is to
the effect that the Communists by reason of having a tightly organized minority
are able to seize the strategic positions in the unions and in that way make heir
influence felt. I think you will agree that that is a correct statement of the
situation.

Mr. Martin. That is correct.

The Chairman. And I might say this, Mr. Martin, and I think you will agree
with me, that no greater service could be rendered by any labor leader than to
assume a courageous and definite opposition to the Communist elements, and to
eject them from positions of influence. Is not that true?

Mr. Martin. As I said previously, the Communists have no more place in
the labor movement than do the Nazis or the Fascists. They believe in dictator-
ships, all of which is inimical to the interests of democracy, in which I am a
believer.

*******

The Chairman. As a matter of fact, is it correct or not to say that all three of
those — the Nazis, the Fascists, and the Communists — represent totalitarian
governments, where the rights of the minority are ruthlessly suppressed?

Mr. Martin. That is correct.

* * * * * * *

The Chairman. Has it not been your experience that those who oppose the
Communists are branded by the Communists as Nazis or Fascists, and that
those who oppose the Nazis or the Fascists are branded as Communists?

Mr. Martin. That is right.

Mr. Starnes. Is it not their invariable strategy to so brand everyone who is
opposed to them?

Mr. Martin. That is right.

***** * *

The Chairman. Is this a correct statement [reading from Martin's speeches]:
"I was invited by Mr. Gebert, who came to my office, and I remember a certain
biblical illustration that reminds me of this: 'I was taken up on the mountain,

H. Rept. 1, 76-1 — 6

Q2 UN-AMERICAN ACTIVITIES AND PROPAGANDA

and I was shown the promised land.' Mr. Gebert informed me that If I would
just come down to Mr. Weinstone's office, or meet him, Mr. Forester, Browder,
and others, and deal with them on the number of organizers to be appointed,
the number of local unions that would be turned over, and I was to go out ana
see that they were given over to the Communist Party, that I, Indeed, could
be the greatest labor leader in America, even greater than John L. Lewis, greater
than anybody."

Is that a correct statement?

Mr. Martin. That was his exact statement.

The Chairman. And your refusal to do that brought on you the antagonism
and the hatred of the CoinmTinist elements.

Mr. Martin. Yes; I told them where he could go.

The Chairman. You also say here [reading from Martin's speeches]: "All I
had to do to become great was to come down and make the deal. Well, I don't
need to tell you that I told Mr. Gebert, who was right across the table from us,
that Hades was hot, but it wouldn't be half as hot as my office if he didn't get
out and get out quick."

Is that a correct statement?

Mr. Martin. That is correct.

What is of outstanding importance to the United States at this time
is the evidence presented, as well as the testimony offered, was the
place occupied by national trade-union movements in the carrying
out of Communist purposes. Evidence and testimony both indicated
that Communist leaders felt competent to win over a suflicient num-
ber of intellectuals and intellectual groups to give them some standing.
The winning over of such groups and their leaders gives a certain
atmosphere of respectability. The evidence in the committee's pos-
session makes it definite that the principal purpose of Communist
leaders in every country has been to secure a controlling position
wdthin national trade-union movements. Historically this is the
main effort communism has made in every country, for Communist
leaders have beheved, and not without good reason, that communism
could make no effective progress in any land unless the organized
labor movement was brought under subservience and the theory of
the class struggle so impressed upon them that the doctrine of revo-
lution as a justified means to an end could be successfully preached
and applied.

The structure of Communist pohcy and activity in the United
States has been similar to the structure of their activities in every
other industrial country, the only difference being some variations
in design and in adaption to the reactions from labor.

A summary of the testimony and evidence divided itself into three
principal fields, the philosophy and revolutionary purpose of the
Communist International, the application of that policy and purpose
in the United States, and the extent to which these have been carried
into effect, particularly within the American labor movement.

The revolutionary purpose of communism, the emphasis placed
upon the necessity of introducing the illegal methods vnthin a trade-
union movement indicates the sinister menace of communism to
national-trade union movements. It serves to give an insight into
the part which communism hopes to play within the trade-union
movement.

The committee's hearings indicate many instances where what
occurred within labor organizations was the result of the illegal
section of the Communist Party's activities in the United States,
To load this report with the mass of documentary evidence presented
to the committee as to the purpose, the program, and the tactics of
the Communist Party within the United States would make too

UN-AMERICAN ACTIVITIES AND PROPAGANDA 63

lengthy a document. The committee's purpose is to summarize
Communist activities in this country and in this portion of its report
the extent to which these are intended to influence our national
trade-union movement and divert it from a constructive to a revolu-
tionary purpose.

In January 1935 the central committee of the Communist Party
in the United States, adopted a lengthy and detailed resolution cover-
ing the immediate tasks of Communist Party, units and members.
From this we quote briefly:

The influx of hundreds of thousands of new workers from basic industries and
mass production plants into the American Federation of Labor unions, and the
growing radicalization of the main mass of its membersliip make the American
Federation of Labor unions more militant and mass unions in character, opening
up new and greater possibilities of revolutionary mass work within them.

In view of this the main task of the party in the sphere of trade-union work
should be the work in the American Federation of Labor unions so as to ener-
getically and tirelessly mobilize the masses of their members and the trade
unions as a whole for the defense of the everyday interests of the workers, the
leadership of strikes, carrying out the policy of the class struggle in the trade
unions.

Further on the resolution read:

The party fractions must win the revolutionary unions for a struggle for trade-
union unity by metliods which correspond to the concrete conditions in each
industry. The existing revolutionary trade unions and their locals join the
American Federation of Labor or its unions wherever there exists parallel mass
American Federation of Labor trade unions, or the "red" trade unions can join
the American Federation of Labor directly.

Testimony offered by responsible trade-union officials indicated
that the methods recommended in the resolution were not new in
purpose though slightly different in form.

In the beginnings of communism in the United States, Communist
leaders controlled in their activities by the central committee of the
Communist International, sought to secure a controfling place within
the American trade-union movement through a process of infiltration,
and the organizing of so-called Communist cells within the local and
national trade unions who composed the American Federation of
Labor.

Governed by mstructions from the same high authority in Moscow
the Communist Party in the United States organized a Trade Union
Unity League, the league's purpose being to occupy sufficient ground
within the trade-union movement to establish a controlling position.
It was during the period of Trade Union Unity League activities that
the American trade-union movement came into more direct contact
with Communist purpose and tactics. The progress made by the
league after a number of years wag so unsatisfactory to Moscow that
the American section received instructions some few years ago to
scrap the league. This was done and as a league it passed out of
existence. In place of the Trade Union Unity League the Communist
Party put into effect its policy of 1935 which enabled it to secure a
strong foothold in the Committee for Industrial Organization.

The testimony of many witnesses indicated that during the strikes
in 1936 leading Communists were directing strike efforts in Pennsyl-
vania, Oliio, Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, and other States. That fo-
menting lawlessness was a part of their program is evidenced by the
arrest and conviction of Communists for illegal activities in connec-
tion with strikes.

64 UN-AMERICAN ACTIVITIES AND PROPAGANDA

Of the many impressions made on our committee by the evidence
and testimony offered by witnesses, none was deeper than the fact
that a foreign government had been actively engaged from the
beginning in an effort to change the structure, the principles, and the
policies of the American trade-union movement.

These Russian agents and their sympatliizers in our country did
not stop at propaganda but organized dehberately, and, after careful
planning, to secure so controUing a leadership in the American trade-
union movement that the membersliip would be compelled to carry
out Moscow methods to accomphsh Moscow objectives.

Both evidence and testimony presented indicated that Communist
efforts had made but little progress in securing any control in the
American labor movement previous to 1936. The American Federa-
tion of Labor and the railway brotherhoods were actively opposed
to communism as such, as w'ell as to communism within their ranks.

According to the evidence the emergence of the Committee for
Industrial Organization presented an opportunity which had been
denied by both the American Federation of Labor and the Railway
Brotherhoods. From official Communist documents and records
presented to your committee it is evident that no sooner had the
Committee for Industrial Organization been formed than it received
the official endorsement of the Communist Party in America.

From that period the Communist Party made rapid strides in
securing many directive and controlling positions within the C. I. O.
Communists records presented to our committee indicate that
members of the central committee of the Communist Party were
assigned to activities within the trade-union movement.

Jack Stachel was given general supervision of trade union activities.
B. K. Gebert was assigned to special work in organizing steel workers
and later on in directuig strikes, \^illiam Weinstone was in charge
of the Communist interests in the automobile workers' unions m
Michigan. These men received their income from the Communist
Party wiiile directing the large number of members of the Communist
Party on the pay roll of the Committee for Industrial Organization
as organizers. It was additional evidence of the method by which
the Red International, operating from Moscow, endeavored to shape
the policies and direct the activities of the American trade-union
movement.

The members of the Communist Party as salaried organizers of the
Committee for Industrial Organization reported to the officers of that
body and worked apparently under their direction while at the same
time they reported continuouslv and worked under the instructions
of those members of the central committee of the Communist Party
who were assigned as their directing supervisors.

Tliis condition explains many of the developments in connection
with unauthorized strikes in 1937 wliich were perplexing to the unin-
itiated at that time.

Before the Committee for Industrial Organization had launched its
campaign to organize the workers in the steel industry, tlie Com-
munist Party had anticipated the effort and had entered the field.
William Z. Foster, head of the Conununist Party in our countiy,
prepared a detailed outline of organizing methods in the steel indus-
try, a copv of wliich was presented to our committee. This was
followed almost immediately by instructions from the Communist

UN-AMERICAN ACTIVITIES AND PROPAGANDA Q^

Party to the Young Communist League to be governed by these organ-
izing instructions and to give their active cooperation. The Com-
munist effort to organize steel workers was under way and the Hter-
ature was being distributed among steel workers before the Com-
mittee for Industrial Organization began its organizing effort. Com-
munist documents and records presented to the committee indicate
that the Communist leaders assumed great credit for the organizing
of steel, automobile and other industries and the direction of the strikes
which followed.

William Weinstone, district organizer of the Communist Party in
Michigan, in his pamphlet, The Great Sit-Down Strike, carefully
avoided any reference to the illegal activities of Communists in con-
nection with the automobile strike. Although his expressions were
carefully guarded so that nothing but apparently legal activities
would be mentioned, what he wrote when taken in conjunction with
a mass of documentary evidence in our committee's possession indi-
cates the part which Communists played. From Weinstone's report
we quote briefly:

In this strike and the union there were also radical-minded workers and among
this group, in the first place must be mentioned the work of the Communist mem-
bers of the union as well as the work of the Communist Party itself. * * *
The Communists worked ardently and earnestly in helping to build up the union
and tried in every way possible to prepare the strike so that it would rest upon a
strong foundation. In the strike itself, the Communists sought to imbue the
strikers and the workers generally with the greatest discipline, organization, and
perseverance. There is no doubt that where the Communists were active and
took their outstanding part, particularly at the most decisive points of the strug-
gle, there the strike was strongest, and this made for the success of the whole
battle. * * * The existence of groups of Communists within the shops was
undoubtedly of great help, because thereby a corps of experienced people were in
the shops to help in the solution of the new problems connected with the sit-
down. * * * jn conclusion, the strike of the automobile workers reveals the
new forces that are at work within the country, forces which are driving toward
an extension and strengthening of the labor movement and which are welding
also the unity of the working class and of all progressive-minded people, a process
which is giving rise to the growth of a real people's movement — a real people's
united front — a movement which will impress also the most aggressive revolu-
tionary-minded section of the working class, the Communists and the Communist
Party.

8. In Churches, Schools, etc.

This committee has established, on the basis of the Communist
Party's own literature, that Communists are actively boring from
within churches, schools, youth organization, and every other organi-
zation and institution into which they can find entrance. It is in
this field particularly that the committee has only scratched the sur-
face of un-American and subversive activities. The committee has
nevertheless established the fact of this type of a Communist pene-
tration.

In his book, What Is Communism? Earl Browder wrote:

It is significant that the Communist Party, more than any other labor group,
has been able to achieve successful united fronts with church groups on the most
important issues of the day. This is not due to any compromise with religion as
such, on our part. In fact, by going among the religious masses, we are for the
first time able to bring our antireligious ideas to them.

At the Seventh World Congress of the Communist International,
in 1935, a resolution was adopted which declared it to be —

The duty of Young Communist League members to join all mass organizations
of the toiling youth (trade union, cultural, sports organizations) formed by

66 UN-AMERICAN ACTIVITIES AND PROPAGANDA

bourgeois, democratic, reformist, and Fascist parties, as well as religious organiza-
tions; to wage a systematic struggle in these organizations to gain influence over
the broad masses of youth.

Witnesses who appeared before the committee testified concerning
the extensive activities of communism in our schools and colleges.
In some cases, they publish their own Communist journals for students;
in other cases, they succeed in placing Communists in key positions
on the regular school publications. In a later section of this report,
the activities of the American Student Union, a Communist united
front organization, will be discussed.

9. Lawlessness and Violence

We have heretofore stated that much of the lawlessness and violence
in the industrial world was instigated and engineered by Communists
as a part of their revolutionary program.

The sit-down strike was largely imported from abroad and was put
into efl'ect in this country for the purpose of paralyzing industry and

E reducing a revolution. One of tne most notable examples was the
lansing "holiday," when a Communist-inspired mob of 5 to 10 thou-
sand assembled in front of the State capitol of Michigan in protest to
the arrest of 6 persons who had been ordered arrested for the violation
of an injunction. This mob barricaded practically all the streets lead-
ing to the capitol. They organized flying squadrons, armed with clubs,
who entered places of business and compelled the owners to close their
doors.

The State College was about 3 miles from the capitol. Because
some of the mob attempted to close the places of business near the
State College, the students threw them in the river. When this news
reached the mob at Lansing, approximately 2,000 of them were ordered
to march on the State College and not to come back until they brought
part of the college with them. In obedience to these instructions, the
mob started toward the State College. The State police occupied
barracks near the campus of the State College. The testimony of the
heu tenant of the State police shows that the State police were fully
hiformed with regard to what was happening at Lansing and they
knew that some 2,000 of the mob were marching on the State College.

About 3,000 of the students who were apprised of the approach of
the mob assembled for the purpose of resisting them. Fortunately,
no serious clash occurred between the two opposing forces. That such
a tiling could occur under the eyes of the State police is almost
unbelievable. It illustrates, however, how successful the Commu-
nists were in instigating lawlessness, and in briiigmg about mass defi-
ance of constituted authorities.

It is believed that a courageous stand on the part of all public officials
involved would have prevented these disgraceful occurrences, and
would have avoided the loss of millions of dollars to both labor and
capital, wliich resulted from the stoppage of work and the inability
of thousands of employees to work. It would be hard to estmiate
the total loss sustained by the Nation as a result of the nunierous acts
of violence and lawlessness that occurred during this period. Most
of it can be attributed to the activities of the Communists in instigat-
ing and conducting unauthorized strikes and sit-down strikes.

Law and order are so essential to the very life of the Republic that
it presents a fundamental issue. This committee feels that it should

UN-AMERICAN ACTIVITIES AND PROPAGANDA 67

condemn this lawlessness and violence in unmistakable language.
Similar occurrences must not occur in the future if we hope to preserve
the American Republic. There is no compromise with this funda-
mental issue. It is the duty of every law-abiding citizen and public
official to condemn it in clear and understandable language.

More serious than the monetary loss was the severe shock sustained
by our whole structure of government. Tliis committee feels that it
would be derelict in its duty to the people of this country if it did not
denounce this lawlessness as distinctly and clearly un-American.

10. The Farmer-Labor Party

The committee heard considerable testimony with reference to the
Communist penetration of the Farmer-Labor Party in Minnesota.
Some of these witnesses were former officials in the Farmer-Labor
Party. Some of them were former Communists who were fully
acquainted with what took place behind closed doors. This evidence
indicates very clearly that the Communists had succeeded in pene-
trating the Farmer-Labor Party and seizing many strategic positions;
that they were using the Farmer-Labor Party to promote communism
and class warfare.

The great majority of the members of the Farmer-Labor Party are
opposed to communism and we have been informed that vigorous
steps have recently been taken to eject Communists from their
ranks. For some time the Communists have planned to build a
strong Farmer-Labor Party and use it as a front for the promotion of
communism in the United States. That they succeeded to a large
extent in Minnesota is undeniable.

It is hoped that this experience will serve as a warning in the future
so that the non-Communist members of the Farmer-Labor Party who
comprise a large majority will be on constant guard to prevent a
repetition of this experience.

11. Communism on the West Coast

While the committee was unable to devote much time to the west
coast, we did hear enough evidence to convince us that here the
Communists have made great strides. They wield considerable
political influence, and through lawlessness and violence have prac-
tically paralyzed many industries on the west coast. In fact, the
situation in this area is very grave and should be thoroughly investi-
gated and exposed.

From the information before the committee, we feel convinced that
a thorough investigation of the west coast will show that the Com-
munists have enjoyed greater success there than in any other section
of the country; that they have seized many important positions in the
labor movement, and are directing many labor and pohtical activities.
The loss in money and man-hour directly traceable to Communist
activity is tremendous. The situation on the west coast is so serious
and the Communist influence so widespread and strongly entrenched
that it would require many months of diligent investigation and
courageous exposure to correct the situation. With the small funds
and the limited time, this committee was unable to cope with this
serious situation.

68 UN-AMERICAN ACTIVITIES AND PROPAGANDA

Not only are the Communists active here, but to a lesser extent,
the same is true of the Nazis. The committee received information
with regard to their activities and we thixik that this should be gone
into thoroughly.

12. The Fellow Travelers

One result of the work of this committee has been to familiarize the
American people with some of the terminology of the subversive
movements. For the first time, the American people Ivnow some-
thing of the meaning and activities of "the fellow travelers."

In the Communist movement, the fellow travelers are more numer-
ous than the card-holding members of the party. As a rule, the
fellow travelers go along, in the limited duties expected of them, as
faithfully as if they were actually party members. It is, however,
important to recognize that there are many degrees in fellow traveling.
Some are closer to the party than others. Usually the fellow travelers
are middle-class intellectuals — professors, writers, clergj^men, and
even important government officials. In some respects, the fellow
traveler is a far more valuable instrument of the Communist Party's
purposes than a party member would be. He may, therefore, exert
a more insidious influence in Communist subversive activities than
the person who openly acknowledges his Communist Party member-
ship.

C. FRONT ORGANIZATIONS

1. Control

Many difficulties are to be encountered in any effort to provide a
complete list of the front organizations which the Communist Party
has set up in this country for the purpose of putting the leaven of
revolution into American thinking. There are hundreds of such
united front maneuvers. The control of these organizations is usually
a matter of considerable subtlety. The Communist Party has never
found it necessary to have a majority of the members of united front
organizations consciously on its side in order to exercise a dominant
control in their affairs and activities. But there can be no doubt of
the accuracy of Earl Browder's claim, when he declared:

In the center, as the conscious moving and directive force of the united front in
all its phases, stands the Communist Party. Our position in this respect is clear
and unchallenged.

2. Aim

The aim of the united front is to extend the influence of the Com-
munist Party far beyond the circle of its own memberslup, and even
far beyond the periphery of the fellow travelers. It aims to reach, by
the use ot high sounding names and laudable objectives, milhons of
Americans who would not consciously support any Communist organ-
ization working in the open.

3. ScoPB

Almost no group in the entire population has been omitted from the
united front attention of the Communist Party. Lenin said:

Our task is to utilize every manifestation of discontent, and to collect and utilize
every grain of even rudimentary protest.

UN-AMERICAN ACTIVITIES AND PROPAGANDA g9

By the utilization of discontent, the Communist Party undertakes
to transform any degree or kind of protest into petty hatred, and from
this to fashion the instruments of class war.

One or more Communist united front organizations have been set
up to bid for the support of each of the following groups: Farmers,
students, youth, consumers, social workers, poets, writers, artists,
dancers, musicians, athletes, social scientists, women, aliens, physi-
cians, lawyers, the clergy, the intelligentsia, pacifists, war veterans,
wage earners, the unemployed, technicians, and architects.

4. Examples of Front Organizations

The committee received voluminous evidence concerning the ac-
tivities of the Communist front organizations. In this report, only
a few of the outstanding united front organizations of the Communist
Party will be discussed. These have been chosen chiefly because of
their size and influence.

THE AMERICAN LEAGUE FOR PEACE AND DEMOCRACY

In considering these front organizations, we will attempt to deal
with them %vith respect to their importance in the Communist "front,"
according to their size and composition. The largest of the Com-
munist "front" movements in the United States is the American
League for Peace and Democracy, formerly known as the American
League Against War and Fascism, and, at the time of its inception,
as the United States Congress Against War. The following state-
ment appeared in the report of the Cleveland Congress of the league,
held in January 1936. It may be found on page 368, volume 1, of this
committee's hearings:

There is going to form in this country a united people's movement which will
be the counterpart of the Front Populaire in France. This year we have made
considerable gains, we can honestly say, in understanding the problems of the
United Front, and in learning United Front behavior. ... A good many times
our constituent forces and those who come to our meetings ask us this: "Is the
American League Against War and Fascism anti-capitalist?" Of course it is. . . .
How could we be against fascism without being against capitalism?

This report of the league also refers to a resolution greeting the
Spanish "red" front which was adopted by the Cleveland Congress.
(See p. 368, vol. 1, committee hearings.)

Hearty greetings to our valiant comrades of the People's Front in Spain.
Your successful example renews our courage and inspires us to redouble our efforts
to attain the same indispensable end in the United States * * * We are
heartened by the increasing response of the American people to an appeal for
united action. * * * We are one with you in spirit and shall stand shoulder
to shoulder until the final victory is achieved.

A report made by the Communist Party on June 24, 1936, contains
the foUowing statement (p. 367, vol. 1, committee hearings):

The American League Against War and Fascism is one of the outstanding
examples of a broad people's front. * * * Its Third Congress, held in
Cleveland last January, registered a representation of mass organizations of the
most varied kind with a membership of over 3,000,000. * * *

In A Program Against War and Fascism, published by the
league, we find this statement (p. 459, vol. 1, committee hearings):

The American League Against War and Fascism was founded at the first
United States Congress Against War, held in New York City in September 1933.

70 UN-AMERICAN ACTIVITIES AND PROPAGANDA

The steering committee which organized this congress was composed of Com-
munists and non-Communists. * * * Comnumists have continued in posi-
tions of prominence in the league. * * * It is natural enough that they
Bhould be proud of their part in founding ther league and should claim a large
share of credit for its success. * * *

Internationalistic Communist organizers, such as Henri Barbusse
and Tom Mann, were permitted by the United States Department of
Labor to come from abroad to assist in hiunching this movement.
The league contends pubHcly that it is not a Communist fiont move-
ment, yet at the very begiiuiing Communists dominated it. Earl
Browder was its vice president.

The following statement appears in A Program Against War and
Facism (p. 300, vol. 1, committee hearings):

So far as the economic and political organization of society is concerned, fascism
and communism are opposites. Fascism is for war; the Fascist state is the war-
breeding and war-making state. Communism is for the abolition of war. We
can't in any sense be against both. Communists — in Germany and other
countries — have shown themselves to be hard, courageous, and sincere fighters
against war and fascism. The same is true here in the United States. * * *

In the program of the league (p. 458, vol. 1, committee hearings)
we find that one of its objectives is:

To work toward the stopping of the manufacture and transport of munitions

* * *, through mass demonstrations, picketing, and strikes. * * *

Members of the league have been pledged to resist military training,
to demand "total and universal disarmament, as proposed by the
Soviet Union"; to "permit no discretion to the President" with regard
to the determining of neutrality laws; to oppose "the policies of
American imperialism in Latin America and the Far East"; to give
support to all peoples resisting "imperialist powers"; to demonstrate
constantly "the relationship between war and fascism"; to prevent
the "formation of Fascist forces in this country" (but not the fonnation
of Communist forces); to op]JOse "legislation or orders denying
citizens in the armed forces * * * to receive printed matter or
personal appeals in behalf of this or any other program * * *
and to defend their rights to join organizations * * *." It will
be noted that the league condemns one "ism" while upholding the
Soviet Union, the source of another "ism" — communism.

The call for the United States congress was issued by Communists.
On page 437, volume 1, of the committee hearings may be found a list
containing the names of these Communists.

The following statement appeared in the January 15, 1934, issue of
the Communist International (p. 463, vol. 1, committee hearings):

Our most successful application of the united front has been the anti-war and
anti-Fascist movement. We led a higlily successful United States Congress
Against War, which brought together 2,01(5 delegates from all over the country.

* * * The congress from the beginning was led by our party quite openl\'.
The congress set up a prominent organization on a f^ederative basis called the
American League Against War and Fascism.

A statement made by Dr. Harry "Ward, national chairman of the
league, appeared in the November 193G issue of Soviet Kussia Today
(p. 464, vol. 1, committee hearings):

There is no way to constructively organize peace except by adopting through-
out the world the basic organization on which the Soviet Union is founded.

In the February 1936 issue of Soviet Russia Today, which is, by the
way, the official organ of another front movement in the L'nited States,

UN-AMERICAN ACTIVITIES AND PROPAGANDA 71

another statement made by Dr. Ward was published (p. 464, vol. 1,
committee hearings), in which he said that^the chief purpose of the
league is "to promote a wider understanding of the peace policies of the
Soviet Union and to cooperate with other agencies to prevent an attack
on the Soviet Union."

On pages 466 and 477, volume 1, committee hearings, you will note
statements from oflScial Communist sources which show Communist
Party direction of membership drives for the league.

At the Pittsburgh convention of this movement in November 1937
its name was changed from the "American League Against War and
Fascism" to the "American League for Peace and Democracy."
(See p. 455, vol. 1, committee hearings.) This organization is the
American section of the World Committee Against War and Fascism
(now the World Committee for Peace and Democracy). (See p. 299,
vol. 1, committee hearings.)

The league claimed in November 1937 (see p. 473, vol. 1, committee
hearings) 102 branches in 24 States, and a total membership of 4,025,-
925. According to its report, 246,116 of these were "religionists," yet
the Communists brag (p. 368, vol. 1, committee hearings) that:

It is significant that the Communist Party, more than any other labor group,
has been able to achieve successfully united fronts with church groups. This is
not due to any compromise with religion as such on our part. In fact, by going
among religious masses we are for the first time able to bring our antireligious
ideas to them.

Our committee heard the testimony of J. B. Matthews, who had
been Usted by a previous witness as one of the organizers of the
American League for Peace and Democracy, and one who was active
in an official or consul tory capacity with at least 20 Communist "front"
movements. (See pp. 869, 870, and 871, vol. 1, committee hearings.)
Mr. Matthews readily admitted that he was, in fact, the first national
chairman of the league. (See pp. 871 and 887, vol. 1, committee
hearings.)

I accepted the chairmanship of this organization and, in December, Browder,
general secretary of the American Communist Party, went back to Moscow to
report on the result or success of the enterprise of setting up the American league.

Mr. Matthews also told of the organizational committee conference
at which he presided and in which alien Communist leaders took a
prominent part. (See p. 899, vol. 1, committee hearings.) He told
of the Moscow connections of the league. (See p. 901, vol. 1, com-
mittee hearings.) He showed the manner in which the Communists
carry out their party line through the league. (See pp. 905 and 906,
vol. 1, committee hearings.)

We have given you a fairly exhaustive report on the American
League for Peace and Democracy, first, because, in spite of the testi-
mony of many witnesses and the voluminous documentary evidence
presented to our committee, there is still an attempt to deny the
fact that the league is a Communist "front" movement; and, second,
because we have had to face the fact that many Federal Government
employees, some in official positions, have been and are still ad-
mittedly associated with this and other "front" movements, which are
unquestionably "front" movements for the international scheme for
revolution of a foreign power. For those who wish to go into this
matter further, we recommend the reading of the testimony of John
P. Frey, Walter S. Steele, Homer Chaillaux, and J. B. Matthews, in
volume 1 of this committee's printed hearings.

72 UN-AMERICAN ACTIVITIES AND PROPAGANDA

THE workers' alliance

Second in size and importance, from a Communist standpoint and,
therefore, a menace to our country, is the Workers' Alliance of Amer-
ica. Prior to the organizational convention of the Workers' Alliance
called by Herbert Benjamin, who makes no secret of his membership
in the Communist Party and of his allegiance to the Soviet Union
and the Third (Communist) International of Russia; and David
Lasscr, a Socialist, pro-Communist and pro-Soviet, a number of
unemployed movements had been set-up in the United States. The
two largest of these were the "unemployed leagues" and the "unem-
ployed councils," organized and directed by the above-mentioned
individuals. (Sec p. 479, vol. 1, Committee Hearings.) In connec-
tion with the Workers' Alliance, Earl Browder, in his book. The
People's Front, says:

We Communists were the pioneers in this and in many other fields. The
unemployment movement dates from the great Nation-wide demonstrations
* * * called by our party, for which we paid the heavy price * * *. It
was the Communists who raised the slogan of national unification, fought for it
consistently, and finally brought about the merger of all into the Workers' Alli-
ance * * *.

In reporting the success of the merger of unemployed organizations,
Herbert Benjamin said in his report to the Third International
(p. 478, vol. 1, committee hearings):

On April 7 to 19 [1936] nearly 700 delegates, representing all major unemployed
organizations of the United States, met in a joint convention in Washington,
D. C, and merged their forces into a single unified organization. The merger
represents the successful culmination of a campaign conducted for nearly 4 years
by the Communist Party of the United States of America and by the national
unemploj'ed councils which were organizad and led by the Communists since the
beginning of the crisis late in 1929.

In accordance with the previously arrived at agreement, the united organization
will be known as the Workers' Alliance of America.

The program of the Workers' Alliance, as adopted by the convention, varies
little from the program of the unemployed councils. Due to the fact tliat the
councils were first in the field and were guided by the Communists, who initiated
and led the struggles and organizations of the unemployed in the United States,
they were able to crystallize a correct and comprehensive program.

The Workers' Alliance is, therefore, bound to play an important role in all the
immediate and future struggles of the toiling masses of the United States.

The organizational convention of this Communist movement was
held in the auditorium of the United States Department of Labor
Building in Washington, D. C. (See p. 487, vol. 1, committee
hearings.) The fact that this movement was set up at the invitation
of Moscow cannot be denied. The purpose of it is not only to extend
the Communist "front" movement in this country but, likewise, to
relieve Moscow from the burden of financing the movement. The
Workers' Alliance offered a new avenue of receipts in this country.
(See p. 384, vol. 1, committee hearings.)

The Workers' Alliance endorses Communist-endorsed candidates
for pubhc ofhce.

The unemployed in the United States have not yet been touched, have not yet
been influenced by our propaganda, although the subsidies paid every year have
reached $100,000 * * * — (p. 384, vol. 1, committee hearings).

On March 28, 1933, Stalin, in his report to the Communist Inter-
national (p. 380, vol. 1, committee hearings), said:

UN-AMERICAN ACTIVITIES AND PROPAGANDA 73

When agitators in America organize the idle, they will, no doubt, be able to
obtain financial assistance from some American municipalities * * * Polish,
French, German, and Czechoslovakian cities have been so induced by Commu-
nists to furnish funds to aid their agitation.

At the time martial law was declared in New Mexico in 1933, as~a
result of riots which had broken out there, the head of the National
Guard in that section said (p. 380, vol. 1, committee hearings):

An interesting thing that we have found (you probably have known it for some
time, but we learned it only recently) is that the Communist group, through these
various organizations, has been successful in organizing its people to receive the
major portion of relief donations and help on a national scope.

Herbert Benjamin was among those arrested in New Mexico at
that time, when it was discovered that he was the leading force
behind the riots. He was also the organizer of the first and second
large hunger marches on Washington, D. C. Benjamin is now
secretary-treasurer and organizational director of the Workers'
Alliance. David Lasser, who attended the twentieth anniversary
celebration of the "red" revolution in Moscow in 1937, is its national
chairman.

The Workers' Alliance claims a membership of 800,000. This
claim is verified by a report made by the National Youth Administra-
tion. (See p. 485, vol. 1, committee hearings.) In 1938 the Kings
County, N. Y., grand jury charged the Alliance with fostering un-
American doctrines and with intimidation of relief officials, charging
its members $1 per month for the program. (See p. 484, vol. 1, com-
mittee hearings.) ^

The Alliance is apparently patterned after the "Unemployed
Councils of St. Petersburg," Russia, set up in 1906 as a part of the
Communist front there. As the councils m Russia staged sit-down
strikes, so also did the Alliance stage sit-down strikes in various
State legislatures and relief bureaus in our couutry. (See pp. 488,
489, 490, and 500, vol. 1, committee hearings, for information re-
garding sit-down strikes in Minnesota, Washington, D. C, New
Jersey, and elsewhere by the Alliance.) (See also p. 636, vol. 1, for
information on the "Unemployed Councils of St. Petersburg.")

Mr. Benjamin reported the progress of the Alliance in "Imprecor,"
official organ of the Third International, No. 23, volume 16, page 628.
(See p. 478, vol. 1, committee hearings.) Benjamin also reported on
the progress of the organization during the 1938 national convention
of the Communist Party which was held in New York City.

While attending the organizational conference, the sessions of which
were held in the Labor Department Building, delegates paraded in
the streets of Washington. They marched to the strains of "The
Internationale" and "Solidarity Forever" and chanted "To Hell with
Roosevelt and Garner," both of whom refused to receive their repre-
sentatives. (See p. 481, vol. 1, committee hearings.)

The Workers' Alliance is organized in practically every relief
project in the country. This is attested to by the numerous witnesses
from relief projects, including Victor Ridder, former New York City
administrator of relief projects, as well as by former members of the
Communist Party and the Workers' Alliance who appeared before our
committee.

74 UN-AMERICAN ACTIVITIES AND PROPAGANDA

For further proof in connection with the close association of the
Workers' AlUance and the Communist movement in the United States,
see pages 982, 986, 988, 991, 995, 998, and 1000, vohime 2, committee
hearings,

A witness, who is a former member of the Communist Party and the
"Workers' Alliance, and connected with the Federal writers' project,
testified to the fact that the Workers' Alliance is able to force its
members on relief projects in advance of nonmembers. (See p. 1009,
vol. 2, committee hearings.) Another former member of the Com-
munist Part}', now a member of the American Federation of Labor,
charged that while he was in the Communist Party he was assigned to
organize the unemploj-ed councils, wliich later became the AVorkers'
Alliance. (Seep. 1043, vol. 2, committee hearings.) He also testified
that the Transport Workers' Union is dominiited bv the same element.
(See pp. 1043, 1044, 1051, 1067, 1009, 1070, 1074, 1077, and 1079,
vol. 2, committee hearmgs.)

Victor Kidder testified thnt the members of the Alliance kept relief
projects in constant turmoil through agitation, propaganda, demon-
strations, and demands, and charged that it is "aililiatcd with the
Communist Party." (See pp. 1102 and 1104, vol. 2, committee hear-
ings.) He also submitted evidence regarding the regular agitation
publications issued by the Workers' Alliance and the Communist
Party which are circulated in various relief project centers.

Other witnesses submitted evidence which showed that the local
headqiuirters of the Workers' Alliance were also Communist Party
headquarters. As an example, we point to the testimony of Walter
Reynolds of the American Legion. (See p. 1339, vol. 2, committee
hearings.) Testimony was also submitted to prove that the Com-
munists have used the Workers' Alliance politically. (See pp. 1374,
1385, and 1395, vol. 2, committee hearings.) Much of this evitlence
was submitted by former Workers' Alhance and Comnnmist Party
leaders.

Witness Kittrock. former Communist Party member and an official
of the alliance in Minnesota, testified that: "You cannot now be an
official of the Workers' AUiance unless you are a Communist Party
member." (See p. 1397, vol. 2, committee hearings.) lie stated
that when he resigned from the Communist Party attempts were made
to expel him from the Alliance, of which he was a sectional secretary.
Failure to accomplish this resulted in the withdrawal of the section's
charter. He charged that the "Workers' Alliance is absolutely
controlled b}' the Communist Part}'." (See p. 1398, vol. 2, committee
hearings.)

Another former member of the Communist Party (from Michigan),
who exhibited his menibershi]) card in the party, testified to the Com-
munist control of the alliance. lie claimed to have been an organizer
at the time of the merger into the Workers' Alliance. (P. 1488, vol.
2, committee hearings.)

A witness from the Federal Art Project in New York City charged
that the "Alliance is controlled by Communists," and that it domi-
nates that project. He further stated that the alliance is lauded by
Aubrey Williams, National Assistant Administrator of W. P. A.
projects. (See pp. 766, 777, vol. 1, committee hearings.)

Among the successes in its "front" movements, the Comnmnists
point to the "Workers' Alliance of America." (See p. 371, vol. 1,
committee hearings.)

UN-AMERICAN ACTIVITIES AND PROPAGANDA 75

INTERNATIONAL LABOR DEFENSE

According to documents published by the "International Labor
Defense," it is the American section of the "M. O. P. K,.," or the
"Ked International of Labor Defense," often referred to as the "Red
International Aid." (See p. 495, vol. 1, committee hearings.) As
reported by Mr. Marcantonio in a statement made to the "American
Association for the Protection of Foreign Born" in 1938, the "Inter-
national Labor Defense" has a membership of over 300,000 in the
United States. (See p. 494, vol. 1, committee hearings.) The follow-
ing statement may be found in the constitution of this organization
(p. 495, vol. 1, committee hearings):

The name of the organization shall be International Labor Defense, section of
the International Red Aid.

In the pamphlet "What is the I.L. D.?" (p. 495, vol. 1, committee
hearings), the movement claimed 800 branches in 47 States in this
country. In this it also states that it "cooperates with the American
League Against War and Fascism and the League of Struggle for
Negro Rights," together with the "Women Consumers Educational
League, the Communist Party, the International Workers' Order,
and the Jewish Workers' Club."

The March 2, 1934, issue of Imprecor, the or^an of the Third Inter-
national, states (p. 496, vol. 1, committee hearings):

A straight path leads from the relief association founded in London by Karl
Marx and Friedrich Engles in aid of the victims of the revolution of 1848 to the
founding of the International Red Aid. It commenced with local relief com-
mittees and has grown into the world-wide organization of the International Red
Aid. It was the Bolsheviki who founded the International Red Aid in response
to a suggestion made by the Association of Revolutionists under Czarism. From
the first moment of the existence of the International Red Aid, the Communist
International put the whole of its forces at the disposal of this mighty achieve-
ment of international proletarian solidarity. Lenin, Stalin, Manuelsky, Piant-
nitsky, Knorin, and Kuusinev, Clara Zetkin, Marchievsky, and many other
Bolsheviki took up the work of the International Red Aid.

On the fifteenth anniversary of the Comintern (Communist International) , the
International Red Aid greets the Comintern and especially the Communist Party
of the Soviet Union and expresses its revolutionary thanks for the invaluable aid
which it has given its work in all countries. Millions of "red" helpers greet the
Comintern and its leader, Stalin; millions of "red" helpers call to the struggle and
pledge themselves to carry on the struggle steadfastly and resolutely for the
emancipation of the proletarian class.

For the most part the leaders of the International Labor Defense
are Communists. (See AfiiHations, pp. 497, 498, 499, 500, 501, and
502, vol. 1, committee hearings.)

Louis Engdalil, who was the general secretary of the American sec-
tion of the International Labor Defense for years until his death in
Moscow in 1935, was one of the most widely known Communists in
the United States. Its present secretary, William L. Patterson (col-
ored), is a widely known Communist. Chief counsel for the Inter-
national Labor Defense, Joseph Brodsky, is also prominent in Com-
munist circles, as is its other secretary, Anna Damon. (See pp. 497
and 503, vol. 1, committee hearings.)

The International Labor Defense, in its international organization
outside of Russia, has "12,000,000 members," according to its own
statement. (See p. 495, vol. 1, committee hearings.) In a report
pubhshed in the July 6, 1934, issue of Voice of Action, a Communist
magazine, the International Labor Defense admits that it is organized

76 UN-AMElilCAX ACTIVITIES AND PROPAGANDA

in 70 countries, and that it has handled 25,000 defense cases, such as
the Sacco-Vanzetti; the Gastonia-Marion, N. C; Imperial Valley,
Calif.; Scottsboro, Ala.; Atlanta, Ga. (Hcrndon); and the Moonc}^-
Billings cases. Its reports indicate that most of those defended by
the International Labor Defense are Communists.

In its own publication (p. 494, vol. 1, committee hearings) the
International Labor Defense shows that its international congresses
meet in Moscow. Under Arrest, a pamplilet issued bj' the Interna-
tional Labor Defense, advises the arrested Communists to use fictitious
names and addresses, to lie, or refuse to give any infornuition to
police and Communists, and to use courtrooms as forums to exploit
the theory of revolution. (Sec p. 496, vol. 1, committee hearings.)

In reporting on the International Labor Defense, the Third Inter-
national, in an article pubUshed in Labor Defender, December 1935
(p. 502, vol. 1, committee hearings), said:

The political and moral assistance which the International Labor Defense
organizations render our prisoners and their families, to political emigrants, to
persecuted revolutionaries and anti-Fascists has saved the lives and preserved tiie
strength and fighting capacity of thousands upon thousands of most valuable
fighters of the working class in many countries. * * *

The International Labor Defense also maintains a section known
as the "prisoners' relief fund", which raises funds for the jailed
Communists and for the relief of their families while they are serving
jail sentences.

We have learned, through documents issued by the International
Labor Defense, that it raised $61,825.23 for the Scottsboro boys.
(See p. 502, vol. 1, committee hearings.) The International Labor
Defense borrowed money from the American Civil Liberties Union
with which it furnished bail for the defendants in the Gastonia-Marion,
N. C, case. The prisoners escaped to Russia shortly thereafter.
(See p. 503, 526, and 536, vol. 1, committee hearings.) The organ of
the International Labor Defense in the United States published
greetings to Soviet Russia on the anniversary of the red revolution in
that country. (See p. 502, vol. 1, committee hearings.)

Among the Communist "front" movements with which one of our
witnesses, J. B. Alatthews, was in the past afFiliatcd was the Inter-
national Labor Defense. (See p. 870, vol. 1, committee hearings.)
He tells of its connection with Moscow. (See p. 897, vol. 1, com-
mittee hearings.) Mr. Matthews said, from personal experience:

There is no question whatever about the International Labor Defense being a
Communist organization. There is no debate on that particular point.

In 1936 Communists launched a move to unite the various radical
"defense" organizations in the United States under the International
Labor Defense. (See p. 367, vol. 1, committee hearings.)

A united labor defense movement is becoming a pressing necessity. The
International Labor Defense is unquestionably the outstanding and most effective
organization in the field. It has a fine record of achievement. T am sure the
leading comrades of the International Labor Defense will agree with me (Earl
Browder) when I declare that we are willing to meet all groups interested in a
united labor defense movement.

The front was perfected only in part. A closer cooperation with
other organizations was noted, although cooperation had prcviouslv
existed to a great extent. (See pp. 371, 537, 575, 628, and 682, vol.
1, committee hearings.)

UN-AMERICAN ACTIVITIES AND PROPAGANDA 77

Witnesses testified that in a great many cases International Labor
Defense local offices were operated in conjunction with Communist
locals. In tliis connection an American Legion leader from Detroit
testified. (See pp. 1339, 1340, 1346, and 1347, vol. 2, committee
hearings.)

Mr. Kittrock, who was, as we have previouslj^ stated, formerly a
member of the Communist Party, testified that all Communist legal
problems were turned over to the International Labor Defense to
settle. The organization was referred to in Communist circles as the
"legal department of the Communist Party." (See p. 1396, vol. 2,
committee hearings.) Still another witness also testified that the
"International Labor Defense" is the "legal department of the
Communist Party." (See p. 1459, vol. 2, committee hearings.)
Police Sgt. Harry Mikuleak, attached to the Detroit Police Depart-
ment, testified that his investigations concerning the International
Labor Defense revealed that it is not only the legal department of the
Communist Party, but that it is also a branch of the International
Red Aid, located in Moscow. He submitted as documentary evidence
the "Draft of resolution on agitation and propaganda for National
Plenum of the International Labor Defense," confiscated after the
arrest of a Detroit Communist Party and International Labor De-
fense leader. This document contained instructions from the "Inter-
national Red Aid" of Moscow to the International Labor Defense
leaders here, and clearly indicated the absolute Communist character
of the International Labor Defense and its definite connection with
it. (See pp. 1566 to 1581, vol. 2, committee hearings.)

One of the resolutions passed by the International Red Aid in
Moscow (p. 1576, vol. 2, committee hearings) was as follows:

The task of winning over the broad masses of workers under the banner of
international proletarian solidarity for the struggle against white terror, fascist
reaction, bourgeois class justice, can be solved only by the widest development of
the agitational work of the International Red Aid. * * *

The resolution continued with reference to the International Labor
Defense in the United States, as its section.

The International Lat)or Defense claims responsibility for the setting
up in this country of a great many aid movements for the so-called
"Loyalist" front in Spain. (See p. 566, vol. 1, committee hearings.)
The "Loyalists," as we know, make up the "popular front" govern-
ment in Spain. In this connection, the International Labor Defense
announced:

At the outbreak of the Fascist rebellion in Spain, the International Labor De-
fense in the United States swung into action, and it was this action which became
the basis for the great solidarity movement organized in the North American
Committee to Aid Spanish Democracy and the Medical Bureau. The Interna-
national Labor Defense began to collect medical aid, and to accomplish this it
set up committees involving doctors, nurses, professionals, and all sorts of people
friendly to the Spanish cause, whom we had never reached before.

These organizations, which have among their leaders many Federal
employees, have collected over a million and a half dollars in the United
States, presumably for relief for the Spanish "red" front, of which a
large percentage is spent in this country for propaganda, etc. (See
pp. 567 and 568, vol. 1, committee hearings.)

The interest of Communists in Russia and the United States in the
Spanish red front will be noted in testimony appearing on pages 372

H. Kept. 1, 76-

78 ON-AMERICAN ACTIVITIES AND PROPAGANDA

and 504 to 573, volume 1, as well as in testimony appearing; on pages
728, 729, 730, 731, 732, 734, 748, and 751, volume 1, committee hear-
ings. We will deal further later on in tliis report with the aid move-
ments, whicii, in personnel, show the red "united front" worked out
to perfection.

FRIENDS OF SOVIET UNION

The Friends of the Soviet Union is possibly one of the most open
Communists "fronts" in the United States. It is headed by the
former Columbia University professor, Corliss Lamont, the son of the
Wall Street banker, J. P. Morgan's partner. Young Lamont has
long been a close friend of the Communist regime and a supporter
of the system of government existing in Russia.

The purpose of tliis organization, as shown by evidence submitted
to this committee, is to propagandize for and defend Russia and its
system of government. Like the majority of the "front" movements,
it has a sprinkling of non-Communists (but sympathizers) on its official
rostrum. It is a section of an international movement directed from
Moscow. To show its close harmony with the Communist movement,
we point to excerpts from some of its documents. An article published
by the Friends, "Who are the Friends of the Soviet Union?" clearly
indicates this harmony. (See p. 512, vol. 1, committee hearings.)

Affirming the essential identity of Interest of the working class the world over,
the Friends of the Soviet Union recognize in the Soviet Union the outpost of
world socialism. * * * The interests of the working classes and farmers
the world over demand a close bond of solidarity between the workers in capitalist
countries and the Soviet workers.

In another pamplilet. Tasks and Activities of the Friends of the
Soviet Union, published by the organization (pp. 512 and 513, vol.
1, committee hearings), the Friends admit that they penetrate our
industrial sections.

To mobilize the masses for militant action against war and in defense of the
Soviet Socialist State through street meetings, demonstrations, factory-gate
meetings and the organization of Friends of the Soviet Union anti-war committees
in all basic industries. * * *

The attacks on militant workers, on hours, wages, Standard of living and the
attacks on the Soviet Union are parts of one whole of the capitalists' attacks
against the working classes. * ♦ * Recognizing the close connection between
the defense of the workers of the United States, the Friends of the Soviet Union
enter actively into all workers' struggles against exploitation and oppression,
against lynchings of Negro workers, against deportation bills and capitalist terror,
against white guard conspiracies and capitalist discrimination. * ♦ *

As a part of this policy of workers' solidarity, the Friends of the Soviet Union
send delegations of American workers to the Soviet Union to participate in May
Day and November 7 (anniversary of "red" revolution) celebrations. In the
campaigns for such delegates, the Friends of the Soviet Union enters into close
contact with progressive and revolutionary trade-unions.

Across the top of an issue of a publication, circulated by the Friends
of the Soviet Union among workers in the Navy Yard at Wasliington,
D. C, was the Communist symbol — the hammer and sickle. The
following statement appeared in one of these issues (p. 514, vol. 1,
committee hearings):

Friends of the Soviet Union local plan to make Washington a fortress of Soviet
defense. Thus can we crystalize the great wave of sympathj' and enthusiasm of
the Washington workers, liberals, professionals, and students for the Soviet Union
into a solid organization * • * into a powerful Friends of the Soviet Union
movement.

UN-AMERICAN ACTIVITIES AND PROPAGANDA 79

The address of Prof. W. L, Dana, formerly of Harvard and later
lecturer at the Boston Communist school, was quoted in a State
convention report issued by the Chicago section of the Friends of
the Soviet Union. This address ended with the words: "Long live
the Soviet Union." Following Dana's address, Robert Minor, of the
central committee of the Communist Part^^, spoke. (See p. 514,
vol. 1, committee hearings.)

Throughout the convention, the nonparty united front character of the Friends
of the Soviet Union was reflected in the composition of the delegates, the resolu-
tions adopted, and was particularly emphasized in the speeches of the representa-
tives of the central committee of the Communist Party, Robert Minor and
Alexander Trachtenberg.

Prizes in the form of trips to the Soviet Union, with expenses paid,
are awarded by the Friends of the Soviet Union in its various cam-
paigns. (See p. 514, vol. 1, committee hearings.)

On its membership card, the organization prints the following:

The Friends of the Soviet Union for the Recognition and Defense of the Soviet
Union.

The Friends of the Soviet Union is an international organization, with head-
quarters in many countries, devoted to developing the international solidarity
of the working masses for the support and defense of the Soviet Union. (See
p. 515, vol. 1, committee hearings.)

In one issue ol Soviet Russia, national organ of the Friends of the
Soviet Union, space was devoted to a warning to its members against
holding meetings in Communist centers. It reported that some pros-
pects had been lost because meetings had been held in "red" centers.
(See p. 515, vol. 1, committee hearings.) Tliis publication carries
numerous articles by high-ups in the Communist Party. (See p. 514,
vol. 1, committee hearings.)

The American Technical Aid Society is affiliated with the Friends
of the Soviet Union.

The report of the convention of the Friends of the Soviet Union,
published in the organ of the Communist International, Imprecor,
Volume 14, No. 11 (p. 516, Vol. 1, committee hearings), states in part:

The first national convention of the American section of the Friends of the
Soviet Union was held in New York January 26-28 with 980 (220 more were un-
able to raise the fare) delegates present representing 796 organizations. It was a
mass demonstration of solidarity for the defense of the Soviet Union, but upon a
united-front basis.

The Friends of the Soviet Union, in its report, claims to be setting
up 200 new branches in the United States. (See p. 516, vol. 1, com-
mittee hearings.) Its 1934 national convention was attended by
1,110 delegates, representing over. 2,000,000 people, who applauded
the Friends of the Soviet Union. (See p. 517, vol. 1, committee
hearings.)

In the 100-page edition of Soviet Russia Today, a special issue pub-
lished on the twentieth anniversary of the "red" revolution, eulogies
to the Communist regime in Russia were published. These were
signed by many intellectuals in educational and social ranks, as well
as by leading Communists. (See p. 518, vol. 1, committee hearings.)

INTERNATIONAL WORKERS ORDER

Possibly one of the most effective and closely knitted organizations
among the Communist "front" movements is the International
Workers Order. It claims a membership of 150,000, bound together

80 XJN-AMERICAN ACTIVITIES AND PROPAGANDA

through an insurance and social plan. Its balance in the treasury on
January 1, 1937, was $1,015,698.90, according to its audited report.
It has a number of sections, chiefly alien, and a juvenile unit. The
order maintains a number of schools, camps, and meeting places. It
has money invested in mortgages on real estate, bonds, etc. It has
contributed large sums of money to Communist Party campaigns, and
its officers are associated in other branches of the Communist move-
ment. (See p. 677, vol. 1, committee hearings.) It claims over
2,000 branches in the United States. (See p. 579, vol. 1, committee
hearings.)

It was the International Workers Order which set up the Fraternal
Orders Conmiittee to win support to the C. I. O. sit-down strikes.
At the organizational meeting of the "aid the C. I. O. movement,"
500 delegates of the International Workers Order were present from
17 national organizations and more than 240 locals, representing
693,085 people. (See p. 578, vol. 1, committee hearings.)

The order regularly sponsors Communist Party endorsed candi-
dates for public office. It takes part in Communist demonstrations.
It has raised huge sums of money for left-wing strikes, and conducts
campaigns among the foreign-born and racial elements. (See p. 578,
vol. 1, committee hearings.)

The International Workers Order is closely associated with the
American League for Peace and Democracy and a number of other
"front" movements. (See p. 679, vol. 1, committee hearings.)

AMERICAN STUDENT UNION

As a section of the World Student Association for Peace, Freedom,
and Culture, the American Student Union is the result of a united
front gathering of young SociaHsts and Communists. It was formerly
known as the Student League for Industrial Democracy and the
National Student League. The latter was the American section of the
Proletarian Youth League of Moscow. (See p. 582, vol. 1, com-
mittee hearings.) Out of the coalition convention, which was held
at Columbus, Ohio, in 1937, came the American Student Union.
The united front was heralded in Moscow as "one of its (commu-
nism's) greatest triumphs." (See p. 582, vol. 1, committee hearings.)

The American Student Union claims to have led as many as 500,000
students out in annual April 22 student strikes in the United States.
(See p. 582, vol. 1, committee hearings.) It announced that it set
up the "front" movement^ the United Student Peace Committee in
1938, which has brought mto its front 17 national youth organiza-
tions. (See p. 683, vol. 1, committee hearings.)

The Young Communist League takes credit for the creation of the
American Student Union, since it was its organization, the National
Student League, which issued the call and organized the convention
which was held in Columbus. (See p. 584, vol. 1, committee hear-

^^^•)

In an advertisement which appeared in a Communist journal. New

Masses, the Union offered free trips to Russia. In 1938 it issued a

call for a "closed shop on the campus," urging a united front between

its local college groups and certam teachers and professional groups.

(See p. 584^ vol. 1, committee hearings.) It claims credit for per-

lecting a umted front of Communist and Socialist students in Europe.

(See p. 684, vol. 1, committee hearings.)

UN-AMERICAN ACTIVITIES AND PROPAGANDA gl

NATIONAL NEGKO CONGRESS

The committee found that the Communists are making a concerted
attempt to win over the Negro. Several efforts in the past liave made
considerable inroads in that field. The internationl Communist
movement among Negroes throughout the world is known as the
Provisional International Trade Union Committee of Negro Workers.
This is a section of the Red International of Labor Unions, which is a
part of the Third (Commmiist) International wliich directs the activ-
ities of Communist movements in labor unions. (See p. 624, vol. 1,
committee hearmgs.)

The Communist front movement in the United States among
Negroes is known as the National Negro Congress. Practically the
same group of leaders directing this directed the League of Struggle
for Negro Rights, which was, until 2 years ago, the name of the
Communist front for Negroes. (See p. 624, vol. 1, committee hear-
ings.) The name was later changed to the American Negro Labor
Congress, and in 1936 to the National Negro Congress. (See p. 625,
vol. 1, committee hearings.) The Second National Congress of the
latter was held in Philadelphia, October 15 to 17, 1937, and the re-
port of the congress states that it represented the "true spuit" of a
"united front." It followed the Communist line throughout. (See
p. 625, vol. 1, committee hearings.) All of the speakers at this con-
gress were either outright Communists or close sympathizers.

The officers of the National Negro Congress are outspoken Com-
munist sympathizers, and a majority of those on the_ executive board
are outright Communists. The national committee is composed of a
mixture of left-wingers and dupes. Lender the bylaws of the organi-
zation, the control is vested in the officers and the executive board.
No authority is vested in the members of the national committee.
In this way the Communists and pro-Communists control the move-
ment. (See pp. 626 and 627, vol. 1, committee hearings.) At the
Philadelphia congress, 1,149 delegates, representing over a hundred
national Negro organizations with a membership of a million
Negroes, were present. (See p. 626, vol. 1, committee hearings.)

A southern Negro movement was later organized. This was known
as the "All-Southern Negro Youth Congress", the convention of which
was held in Chattanooga, in April 1938. (See p. 627, vol. 1, committee
hearings.) The national secretary of this has been directly associated
with several other "front" movements. In his address delivered at
the "National Negro Congress" in Philadelphia, he dealt with the
success of the "Communist united front." The report of the southern
group mdicates that 355 delegates attended the Chattanooga Con-
gress, representing organizations with a membership of over 383,720
southern Negroes. (See p. 627, vol. 1, committee hearings.) The
Workers' AlHance and the Farmers' Union were among those
represented.

In his book. People's Front, Earl Browder, national secretary of
the Communist Party of the United States of America and a member
of the presidium of the Third (Communist) International, deals with
the success of the "National Negro Congress" front movement. (See
p. 371, vol. 1, committee hearings.) He says in part:

Significant progress has been made in building the united front of struggle for
Negro liberation. The National Negro Congress, which met in Chicago in Feb-
ruary and established a permanent organization, found the correct road to a broad

82 UN-AMERICAN ACTIVITIES AND PROPAGANDA

unity of the varied forces among the Negro people and their friends ♦ * ♦.
The position won by our party among the Negro masses carries with it correspond-
ing responsibilities.

Other Communist "front" movements among the Negroes are the
Scottsboro Defense Committee (pp. 502 and G28, vol. 1) and the
Committee to Defend Angelo Herndon (Atlanta, Ga.) (p. 499, vol. 1,
committee hearings).

AMERICAN YOUTH CONGHESS

The American Youth Congress was not originally set up by Com-
munists, but it was penetrated by them, as shown b}'^ the reports of
its first Congress, which was held in Washington, D. C. In 1934, at
its second convention, it was broken up and reorganized into a "red"
front. (See pp. 611 and 612, vol. 1, committee hearings:)

We defeated the enemy and turned the Youth Congress into a broad united
front.

Wliile there are many non-Communist organizations in the Youth
Congress, there are over a dozen Communist, Communist front, and
Communist sympathizing movements in it. (See p. 613, vol. 1,
committee hearings.) The Communists, realizing the value of such
an excellent camouflage, immediately set about organizing similar
congresses in other countries, and they called for a Paris International
Congress. (See p. 613, vol. 1, committee hearings.) Later a World
Youth Congress came into being. This embraced the same organiza-
tions which were afliliated with the American Youth Congress. (See
pp. 615 and 616, vol. 1, committee hearings.) Right-wing youth
movements refused to attend the World Youth Congress which was
held at Vassar. The organizers in the United States were leaders of
Communist, Communist "front," and Communist s^anpathizing
movements. (See pp. 615, 616, and 617, vol. 1, committee hearmgs.)

THE CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION

The committee heard testimony with reference to the Civil Liberties
Union. Some witnesses listed this organization as communistic
while other witnesses denied that it was communistic. We received
in evidence a number of official pamphlets distributed by the Civil
Liberties Union, which speak for themselves. From the evidence
before us, we are not in a position to definitely state whether or not
this organization can properly be classed as a Conmiunist organization.
In this connection it ia mteresting to note the report of the United
Mine ^Vorkers filed in 1924, wherem the following was said about the
Civil Liberties Union:

There are 200 organizations in the United States actively engaged in or sympa-
thetic with the Communist revolutionary movement as directed and conducted
by the Communist Party of America. Some of them are local in their scope and
work; other are Nation-wide Forty-five of these organizations of either "pink"
or radical structure are engaged in the Communist effort to seize control of the
labor unions in this country and convert them to the revolutionary movement. In
virtually every instance these organizations have direct contact, through the
mechanism of interlocking directorates, with the central executive committee of
the Communist Party of America, or with its "legal" branch, the Workers Party
of America.

Illustrative of this arrangement ia the executive committee and the national
committee of the American Civil Liberties Union, at New York, posing as the
champion of free speech and civil liberties, but serving as a forerunner and trail

UN-AMERICAN ACTIVITIES AND PROPAGANDA §3

blazer for the active and insidious activities of the Communist, among labor organ-
izations. Harry F. Ward, born in London in 1873, and chancelor of the Union
Theological Seminary, is. chairman of this organization. The managing director
is Robert Baldwin who served a term as a draft evader in the Essex County jail in
New Jersey in 1918 and 1919.

This statement of the United Mine Workers is borne out by the
evidence we have heard thus far and we strongly urge that this organi-
zation be thoroughly investigated.

The following are the officers of the Union:

Chairman: Harry F. Ward.

Vice chairman: Rt. Rev. Edward L. Parsons.

Vice chairman: Dr. Mary E. Woolley.

Vice chairman: Dean Lloyd K. Garrison.

Treasurer: B. W. Huebsch.

Director: Roger N. Baldwin.

Secretary: Lucile B. Milner.

Counsel: Arthur Garfield Hayes.

Counsel: Morris L. Ernst.

Mr. Roger N. Baldwin, National Director of the Civil Liberties
Union, testified before a congressional committee as follows:

The Chairman. Mr. Baldwin, does your organization uphold the right of an
American citizen to advocate force and violence for the overthrow of the Gov-
ernment?

Mr. Baldwin. Certainly, insofar as mere advocacy is concerned.

The Chairman. Does it uphold the right of an alien in this country to urge
the overthrow and advocate the overthrow of the Government by force and
violence?

Mr. Baldwin. Precisely on the same basis as any citizen.

The Chairman. That is not your personal opinion?

Mr. Baldwin. That is the organization's position.

4i >K * « * « *

The Chairman. Does your organization uphold the right of a citizen or an
alien, it does not make any difference which — to advocate murder?

Mr. Baldwin. To advocate murder?

The Chairman. Yes.

Mr. Baldwin. If it is mere advocacy?

The Chairman. Yes.

Mr. Baldwin. Surely.

The Chairman. Or assassination?

Mr. Baldwin. Of course.

In the printed leaflet issued by the Civil Liberties Union and called
"Campaigns for Civil Liberty — 1938," we find that among other
things listed for their work is —

Aid in campaigns for the release of political prisoners, and against aU prosecu-
tions under sedition and criminal syndicalism laws.

* * * Changes in the immigration and deportation laws to end all restric-
tions merely because of political opinions; to admit and protect genuine political
refugees; and in citizenship proceeding^ to remove tests of aliens' views not
imposed on citizens.

Because of the widespread activities of this union and its tremen-
dous influence, and because of the fact that the evidence shows that
legislation written and sponsored by the union has been enacted by
Congress, we think it important to set forth some of the testimony
of Col. Latham R. Reed, which is as follows:

Colonel Reed. Another pamphlet issued by the American Civil Liberties
League in May 1937, is called "The Gag on Teaching. The story of the new
restrictions by law on teaching In schools and by public opinion and donors on
colleges." I read from page 19. They oppose the legislative requirements for
teaching patriotism and say:

"The legislative requirements for teaching patriotism are either so vague or so
narrow that they all uoil down to dead formalities like flag saluting. Twenty-

84 UN-AMERICAN ACTIVITIES AND PROPAGANDA

seven States have passed such laws, all during or after the war. They reflect
the fear of radicalism and disloyalty current at the time. Their general purpose
is to instill 'into the hearts of the various pupils * * * an understanding of
the United States * * * ^ love of country ♦ * ♦ a devotion to the
principles of the American Government.'"

Apparently they do not like those things. On page 31, they say:

"* * * Even active members of the Socialist Partj' would have difficulty in
most parts of the country in holding a job in any public school system. * * *

"Tolerance of teachers with strong pro-Fascist or pro-Nazi sympathies, some of
them fairly active propagandists, is common, especially among the foreign-
language teachers in colleges. Many of them are, or course, aliens. But there is
no tolerance of pro-Socialist or pro-Communist teachers, even among aliens.

"What this means in effect is that the whole school system, public and private,
is geared to the support of those political parties which represent the economics of
capitalism. In this sense and degree the school system of the country is under
what may be described as 'capitalist political dictation.' "

(The pamphlet ju.st referred to by the witness was marked "Exhibit No. 5,
Reed," entitled "The Gag on Teaching," and filed with the committee.)

Colonel Reed. Now they publish an annual report every year. This one
happens to be 1932-33. They generally have some choice of the name they put
on the outside of their report.

Mr. MosiER. That is, Colonel, they name the report differently each year?

Colonel Reed. They name the report differently each year.

Mr. MosiER. What was the name on that?

Colonel Reed. "Land of the Pilgrim's Pride."

Mr. MosiER. That is the title put on there.

Colonel Reed. This is their annual report for the year 1932-33.

Mr. MosiER. But the title is put in quotation marks, facetiously?

Colonel Reed. Yes; that apparently is the idea. On page 29 of this report
they list "The Years' Issues, Gains and Losses"— gains from their point of view,
or loses from their point of view. This says:

"The variety of issues tackled by the union is well illustrated in this program.
In itself it is sufficient answer to those who charge us with being merely 'defenders
of radicals.' The reports under each specific head indicate the work done."

I read here paragraph 2 on this page, so numbered. They list as part of their
work for the j^ear:

"National campaign against the Department of Labor's illegal raids on aliens,
on deportations for opinion and on anti-alien legislation."

Mr. Starnes. Now, wait. That was back in 1932, was it not?

Colonel Reed. I so stated, sir, and I was just coming to this thing which I
thought might be of interest:

"National campaign against the Department of Labor's illegal raids on aliens,
on deportations for opinion and on anti-alien legislation — notably the Dies bill
for the deportation of Communists as such; protection of alien political refugees
in the United States; admission of alien pacifists to citizenship."

I have quoted that particularly, because I thought it would tie right into the
work that you particularly know about, sir.

(The pamphlet entitled "Land of the Pilgrim's Pride," 1932-33, was marked
"Exhibit No. 6, Reed," and filed with the committee.)

Colonel Reed. From their 1938 report, which is called Eternal Vigilance; I think
this will be of interest to you. This is at page 44:

"Although antialien sentiment is unabated, few cases arose either of refusals of
entry to the United States or of deportation for political opinions, or of denial of
citizenship on political grounds. Hundreds of aliens ordered deported in non-
criminal cases have been permitted to remain in the United States when they have
American-born wives or children, pending action by Congress on the Department
of Labor's bill to grant discretion not to deport. The bill does not affect aliens
holding prescribed political views. But a case now on appeal to the United
States Supreme Court raises that issue through a decision by the Circuit Court of
Appeals at New Orleans that mere membership in the Communist Party is not a
deportable offense. On the outcome of that case depends the deportation pro-
ceedings against Harry Bridges, west coast maritime leader, and a number of
other Conmiunists."

I think that the American Civil Liberties Union is pretty well qualified to tell
you who is a Communist and who is not.

Mr. Starnes. That expression in their 1938 report is that "On the outcome of
the Strieker case depends the outcome of the deportation proceedings against
Harry Bridges and other Communists"?

UN-AMERICAN ACTIVITIES AND PROPAGANDA g5

Colonel Reed. And a number of other Communists. That is page 44 of the
American Civil Liberties Union annual report for 1938.

(The portions of the report above referred to by the witness, entitled "Eternal
Vigilance," were marked "Exhibit No. 7, Reed, ' and filed with the committee.)

Colonel Reed. I criticize also the work this organization does. I would like
to put into evidence a photostatic copy of an advertisement of a mass meeting in
Newark. This happens to be back in 1930. However, this is what it says:

"Workers — Newark — Fight to Save Six Militant Workers From LoNa

Jail Terms!

"fight against the bosses' class justice!"

Then it goes on:

"Come to the mass meeting Sunday, September 14, 1930 — 3 p. m. * ♦ ♦
Prominent speakers. * * * Admission free."

The paragraph at the bottom reads:

"Meeting called under joint auspices of International Labor Defense, American
Civil Liberties Union, American Association for the Advancement of Atheism."

Mr. M osier. In other words, the American Civil Liberties Union joins the
organization for the advancement of atheism in the holding of a meeting?

Colonel Reed. And if you will, sir, dig through many of their reports which
I am going to put in evidence, you will find that on many, many occasions they
have defended atheism and aided atheism and atheist organizations. There la
no secret of it; they boast of it in their reports. This, I think, is a very interesting
thing and I would like to put that in evidence.

(The photostatic copy entitled "Workers" was marked "Exhibit No. 8,
Reed," and filed with the committee.)

Colonel Reed. Now here is another pamphlet which this organization has gotten
out and shows very nicely a map of the United States and, in colors, where there
are States which have laws curbing radical activities [exhibiting]. Here is another
map showing the States which have laws with restrictions on Negro rights; here
[indicating] laws establishing religion in public schools; here [indicating] compul-
sory patriotism in the schools; here [indicating] limiting labor injunctions and
abolishing "yellow dog" contracts.

It is of particular interest because it characterizes to a very large extent the
things that this organization is interested in, and the first one on the list is a map
of the United States showing the States where there are laws to curb radical activ-
ities which they primarily oppose. I would like to put that in as an exhibit.

(The pamphlet above referred to, entitled "State Laws Affecting Civil Liberty,"
was marked "Exhibit No. 9, Reed," and filed with the committee.)

Colonel Reed. Now, there are many other things here. For instance, here is
a pamphlet called Call Out the Militia, which is an attack on the use of the
National Guard to protect property in time of riots or strikes. On page 6 it says:

"* * * The National Guard, as it is now constituted and used, stands as a
constant menace to civil hberties."

Mr. MosiER. Put that whole pamphlet in the record.

(The pamphlet entitled "Call Out the Mihtia" was marked "Exhibit No. 10,
Reed," and filed with the committee.)

Colonel Reed. This is their annual report for 1927-28 [exhibiting] and there is
some very interesting reading in it.

(The pamphlet entitled "The Fight For Civil Liberty, 1927-28," was marked
"Exhibit No. 11, Reed," and filed with the committee.)

Colonel Reed. Here is a pamphlet which they got out this year, 1938, in regard
to the American Legion's effort to have universal finger printing in the United
States.

Mr. MosiER. What is the title of that pamphlet?

Colonel Reed. "Thumbs Down. The Fingerprint Menace to Civil Liberties."

Mr. M osier. And that pamphlet opposes the stand which the American Legion
has taken?

Colonel Reed. Yes, sir — very definitely and in no uncertain terms.

(The pamphlet entitled "Thumbs Down" was marked "Exhibit No. 12, Reed,"
and filed with the committee.)

Colonel Reed. Here is another one, dated June 1929, caUed Blue Coats and
Reds, and this covers the use of police in any labor disputes or anything of that
sort — attacking the police.

(The pamphlet entitled "Blue Coats and Reds" was marked "Exhibit No. 13,
Reed," and filed with the committee.)

56 UN-AMERICAN ACTIVITIES AND PROPAGANDA

Colonel Reed. Here Is a pamphlet called The Post Office Censor reprinted
October 1938. It says:

"The Post Office Department exercises one of the most sweeping censorships in
the country — under vague laws against 'obscenity,' 'defamation,' and 'fraud. "

On the inside here, it savs:

"The powers of censorhip now given the Postmaster General by Congress are
among the most sweeping exercised by a Federal officer. He may, on the slightest
pretext, exclude anything from the mails which he regards as 'obscene,' 'seditious,'
or 'fraudulent.' "

This pamphlet Is an attack on that censorship.

(The pamphlet entitled "The Post Office Censor" was marked "Exhibit No. 14,
Reed," and filed with the committee.)

Colonel Reed. Here is another one along the same lines, called National
Council on Freedom From Censorship.

(The pamphlet entitled "National Council on Freedom From Censorship,"
was marked "Exhibit No. 16, Reed," and filed with the committee.)

Colonel Reed. Here is a pamphlet called School Buildings as Public Forums.
A surve}^ of discrimination agamst unpopular minorities In the use of public-
■chool buildings.

This is objecting to the fact that In many cases Communists and Communist
organizations were not permitted to hold meetings In American scliools.

(The pamphlet entitled "School Buildings as Public Forums" was marked
"Exhibit No. IG, Reed," and filed with the committee.)

Colonel Reed. There are a number of other things here. Perhaps they are
almost too many to quote from. They are all of the same character. There are
probably 15 or 20 of them here. I would like to put them all in evidence, unless
you want me to cover some of these in particular.

Mr. Mosier. Colonel, I think a statement from you, who have been a student
of the American Civil Liberties Union for some years. Is sufficient for the com-
mittee. If you will just leave the balance of the literature with the committee
we are interested in looking it over and examining into this organization.

(The pamphlets and folders last above submitted were marked "Exhibit No.
17, Reed," and filed with the committee, con.sisting of 31 pamphlets and folders.)

JMr. Mosier (continuing). Now I might ask you a (question. How long have
you been interested in the American Civil Liberties Union as such?

Colonel Reed. Since I got out of the Army In 1919.

Mr. Mosier. So that you might be said, might you not — ^it would be a fair
■tatement to say that you have become more or less an expert on that organization
and the literature which it Issues?

Colonel Reed. I have read a great deal of it and have followed It pretty care-
fully.

Mr. Mosier. Would you or would you not say, as a result of your experiences
and your examination and the work you have put In on this particular subject,
that the American Civil Liberties Union, as such. Is engaged in un-American activi-
ties itself?

Colonel Reed. I do not think there Is any question about it. I would say dis-
tinctly "Yes."

Mr. Mosier. Is that, by the way, the organization that Secretary Harold Ickes
admits he belongs to?

Colonel Reed. It is. He made a speech — he was one of the two speakers, two

fuest speakers — no; two speakers, at their annual meeting and banquet last
)ecember In New York City, In which he delivered an address which was pub-
lished. I can send you a copy of it, called Nations in Night Shirts. I will see that
you get a copy of it.

Mr. Thomas. Are there many other governmental officials who are members of
the American Civil Liberties Union?

Colonel Reed. I believe It has quite a few. It Is rather difficult to get the
pames of their members unless their names appear on various of their committees;
but there have been published and I think I can give you — I have not got it with
me — the names of quite a few.

Mr. Starnes. What is the theme of that speech Nations In Night Shirts? Do
you recall the theme of it?

Colonel Reed. Well the tenor of it was, In my humble opinion, distinctly radical
and wound up with, I think, an unwarranted attack on the Supreme Court of the
United States.

Mr. Mosier. Does the American Civil Liberties Union favor the Boy Scout
movement? Has it been prominent in promoting Boy Scout activities?

Colonel Reed. The American Civil Liberties Union?

UN-AMERICAN ACTIVITIES AND PROPAGANDA g7

Mr. MosiER. Yes.

Colonel Reed. I do not think they have been active in it; no. I think they
refer, in some of their documents, to the Boy Scout movement, as they do to the
American Legion, as a repressing influence.

Mr. MosiER. That is the point I wish to bring out. You have documents there,
which you are going to present to this committee, in which they attack the Boy
Scouts?

Colonel Reed. I am sorry; these two pamphlets were issued not by the Ameri-
can Civil Liberties Union, but they were issued by the Young Pioneers. I have
them here. These were not put out by the American Civil Liberties Union.

Mr. MosiER. They were put out by the Young Pioneers?

Colonel Reed. They were put out by the Young Pioneers. They have a very
nice heading "Smash the Boy Scouts."

Mr. MosiER. Do they both refej to the Boy Scouts?

Colonel Reed. Oh, yes; both of them. This is entitled "Smash the Boy
Scouts! Fight Bosses' War."

And this one — "The Boy Scouts Is an Organization for Capitalist Wars I Smash
the Boy Scouts! Join the Young Pioneers!"

Mr. MosiER. And the Young Pioneers is a Communist movement?

Colonel Reed. Absolutely — admittedly so. But don't by any chance get this
thing in as American Civil Liberties Union stuflf, because it is not.

Mr. MosiER. You made that very plain. Probably my question misled you.

(The photostats entitled "Smash the Boy Scouts" and "The Boy Scouts Is an
Organization for Capitalist Wars" were marked respectively as "Exhibits Nos. 18
and 19, Reed," and filed with the committee.)

Mr. Starnes. I do not know whether it is in connection with the American
Civil Liberties Union, or some other union, but now you say Mr. Baldwin is the
director of this American Civil Liberties Union?

Colonel Reed. He is the national director and has been since its very beginning
in 1920. I think it is incorporated. Prior to that it was called the National
Civil Liberties Union, and prior to that it had several other names.

Mr. Starnes. And he stanchly says it is the intention of their organization to
defend the right to advocate murder and assassination?

Colonel Reed. That was his testimony before the House committee back in
1931.

Mr. Starnes. It is very interesting to note some of the names. Who is this
Mr. Amos Pinchot?

Colonel Reed. I happen to know he is a brother of Mr. Gifford Pinchot.

Mr. Thomas. Who is Felix Frankfurter?

Colonel Reed. He is a professor at Harvard University. And I think perhaps
it might be illuminating for you gentlemen to have this called to your attention.
This is put out by the American Civil Liberties Union — or this was obtained at
the American Civil Liberties Union office — this pamphlet [exhibiting] called The
Foreign-Born in the United States. By Dwight C. Morgan. It is put out by
American Committee for Protection of Foreign Born. You will find that the
names of most of the advisory board and so forth, or a great many of them, are
also members of the American CivU Liberties Union committee or officers. For
example, Roger N. Baldwin, Prof. Robert Morss Lovett, John Dewey, Heywood
Broun, and so forth.

This is a history or a story of "Immigration," "Exclusion of Workers," "Barred
from Citizenship," "Deportation Laws Run Riot," "The Fight For Equal Rights,"
• and so forth. They sent this out as part of their propaganda. It is interesting
to note that back in 1920, as covered on "page 61 of this pamphlet, it recites that
Prof. Felix Frankfurter and seven other lawyers drew up charges and an indictment
against the Department of Justice opposing the Department of Justice's action
in the deportation of aliens in this country.

(The pamphlet entitled "The Foreign Born in the United States" was marked
"Exhibit No. 20, Reed," and filed with the committee.)

Mr. Starnes. I am still intrigued by this name Amos Pinchot, because I
remember, as a Member of Congress, having received a great many letters from
that gentleman, and he seemed to be very, very violently opposed to the policies
of the present administration. I am wonaering if that is the same party. Is he
from New York City?

Colonel Reed. I believe so.

Mr. MosiER. You mentioned Harry Ward?
Colonel Reed. Yes.

88 UN-AMERICAX ACTIVITIES AND PROPAGANDA

Mr. MosiER. He is chairman of the American Civil Liberties Union — his name
Is on that letterhead; is it not?

Colonel Reed. I think his name is on that letterhead.

Mr. MosiER. Well, Harry Ward is also president of the American League for
Peace and Democracy, is he not?

Colonel Reed. I believe that is correct, sir.

(D) aliens engaged in UN-AMERICAN ACTIVITIES

The committee received considerable evidence of the activities of
Communist, Nazi, and Fascist aliens in the United States. It does not
seem that these aliens experience any difliculty in entering the United
States or remaining here after entrance. A large part of un-American
activities is inspired and carried on by these aliens. Some of them
are direct representatives and agents of foreign governments. All of
them are engaged in fomenting discord, stirring up trouble, and
spreading foreign ideologies. Some of them occupy important posi-
tions in other organizations and are able to wield considerable political
influence.

There is no excuse for the failure of the Labor Department to deport
these aliens. The case of Harry Bridges is a typical example. The
committee secured from the Labor Department the file in the Bridges
case. After careful examination of this file, the connnittee concluded
that there was no justification for the failure of the Labor Department
to vigorously and promptly prosecute deportation proceedings against
Harry Bridges.

There will be found in the record of the hearings, a letter from the
chairman of the committee to Robert Jackson, Solicitor General of
the United States, which sets forth in detail the facts in the Bridges
case as shown by the file of the Department of Labor. Suffice it to
say, that this file shows that many witnesses testified under oath that
Harry Bridges was a Communist alien, that he belonged to an organi-
zation which preaches the overthrow of the United States Government
by force and violence; that he himself advocated the overthrow of the
Government by force and violence and that he had likewise advocated
sabotage. Therefore, upon several statutory grounds Harry Bridges
is mandatorily deportable.

The Secretary of Labor gave as a reason for postponement of
deportation proceedings against Harry Bridges the decision in the
Strecker case. This was the decision of the circuit court of appeals
for the New Orleans district, which merely held that membersliip
in the Communist Party alone is not sufficient to warrant deportation
of an alien. However, in this case, the Labor Department failed to
introduce the usual stock proof which it introduced in sinfilar cases
to the effect that Communists advocate the overthrow of the Govern-
ment by force and violence. In the file of the Labor Department on
the Bridges case, there is ample proof that the Communist Party
advocates the overthrow of the Government by force and violence.
This file shows other grounds for deportation, which the Department
of Labor has ignored.

In the opinion of the committee, the Strecker case does not have
any important bearing on the Bridges case because the facts in the
Bridges case are much stronger than in the Strecker case. The circuit
court for the district in wliich Harry Bridges resides has rendered a
number of decisions holding deportable Communist afiens where the

UN-AMERICAN ACTIVITIES AND PROPAGANDA gg

facts upon which the Government relied for deportation were not near
as strong as the facts in the Bridges case. Why the Department of
Labor should ignore the legal precedents established by the circuit
court of appeals for the district in which Harry Bridges resides and
attach so much importance to a decision in the circuit court of appeals
for the New Orleans district is a mystery to this committee.

We do not have time in this report to discuss the Bridges case at
length, but in the record of these hearings will be found considerable
evidence, arguments, and the citation of legal authorities which, in
our judgment, definitely establish that the Department of Labor is
without justification in postponing deportation proceedings against
Harry Bridges. In our opinion, the Strecker case was not properly
presented to the trial court, the circuit court of appeals, or the Supreme
Court of the United States. In the trial court the Government
omitted the usual proof with reference to the advocacy of force and
violence by the Communist Party. In the Supreme Court the
Government by agreed stipulation omitted an important ground of
deportation, namely, that Strecker had himself advocated the over-
throw of the Government by force and violence. This fact was
pointed out in the chairman's letter to Robert Jackson dated October
29, 1938, which was written in response to Mr. Jackson's letter of
October 26, 1938. Mr. Jackson has not answered the chairman's
letter up to this date.

Other cases similar to the Bridges case was called to the attention
of a subcommittee of this committee when it conducted hearings in
Detroit. Typical of these cases was the case of Joseph Kolwalski,
who was once deported to Russia because of his communistic activities.
He returned to the United States and took up his communistic activi-
ties where he left them off at the time of his deportation. It was
testified before the committee that there was ample proof that Joseph
Kolwalski is a Cormnunist alien and that he is deportable under the
statute, but that the Labor Department has failed to deport him.

The committee also received evidence of Nazi and Fascist aliens,
who are actively engaged in promoting the cause of nazi-ism and
fascism in the United States. The committee believes that it will be
difficult to ever cope with un-American activities and propaganda in
this country so long as the Department of Labor follows its present
policy with reference to deportation. The laxity with which the
Department of Labor deals with alien agitators would be unbelievable
if we did not have before us the most convincing proof. We believe
that a more thorough and careful investigation will reveal the presence
of scores of Fascist, Nazi, and Communist aliens, who could be and
should be deported, if the Labor Department would proceed against
them in accordance with the laws of the land.

We further believe that the failure of the Labor Department to
carry out the laws with respect to deportation is a contributing factor
to the widespread activities and propaganda carried on by un-
American elements in the United States,

We further believe that greater care should be exercised in
permitting aliens to enter the United States to the end that aliens who
believe in or advocate communism, fascism, and nazi-ism will be
excluded.

It must be remembered that under the decisions of our courts,
aliens occupy the status of guests and Congress can pass any laws with

90 UN-AMLRICAN ACTIVITIES AND PROPAGANDA

respect to thoir deportation that it sees fit. It ig unthinkable that
these aliens should be permitted to abuse their guest privileges with
immunity. The evidence discloses that some of these aliens are
actually supported by the tax money of loyal and patriotic American
citizens. This is an intolerable situation. We recommend that the
evidence and testimony in the record with reference to the activities
of alien agitators be read in order that there may be a full apprecia-
tion of the seriousness of the situation.

Due to limited time and funds, we were unable to go into this ques-
tion as fully as it deserves, but from the facts which we did obtain,
we are convinced that a large part of the espionage and the un-
American activities and propaganda carried on in this country can be
directly traced to the failure of the Labor Department to enforce the
deportation laws of the land.

(E) VOLUNTEERS TO LOYALIST SP.^IN

The committee heard witnesses from Massachusetts and Michigan
who testified with reference to the recruiting of volunteers for the
armed forces of Loyalist Spain. The two witnesses from Massa-
chusetts had served in the armed forces of Loyalist Spain for sometime
and were, therefore, well acquainted with the situation. They testi-
fied that they and many others were induced to enlist by Connnunists
and that their transportation to Spain was furnished by Communists;
that they and the others who accompanied them were instructed to
report to a man by the name of Many in New York, which they did;
that passports were secured for them, and that they were sent to
France where they reported to Communist headquarters; that from
France they were conducted to Loyalist Spain.

These witnesses testified in substance that the Communists were in
control of Loyalist Spain; that they controlled the government of
Lo5^alist Spain and directed all activities; that many of the American
volunteers in the Loyalist armies were virtually prisoners and while
they wanted to return to the LTnited States, they were not permitted
to do so.

We do not have the time to describe the treatment of these American
volunteers in the Loyalist armies, but we recommend that the testi-
mony on this subject be read carefully. It will show the extent to
which the Communists have gone in recruiting volunteers in the
United States for the Loyalist cause.

The committee also heard several witnesses from Detroit who testi-
fied that they were approached by well-known Communists and asked
to enlist in the Loyalist forces. They were instructed to report to
New York and contact a man by the name of Many. Their trans-
portation to New York was furnished to them. The testimony of the
witnesses from Detroit corroborates a great deal of the testimony of
the two witnesses from Massachusetts. It reveals that the Commu-
nists have conducted a systematic and well-organized campaign to
secure volunteers for the Lo3'alist cause; that they have a central
office in New York where all volunteers are directed to report; that
they have sufficient funds to finance the transportation of these volun-
teers to Spain ; and that they have been able to circumvent the law
and operate illegally in getting these volunteers to Spain.

UN-AMERICAN ACTIVITIES AND PROPAGANDA QJ

The testimony of Sam Baron, who spent some tune in Loyalist
Spain as a correspondent for the sociahst paper, Call, corroborates
the testimony of the other witnesses with regard to Loyalist Spain.
This witness went to Spain as a strong sympathizer of the Loyalist
cause. He still believes in that cause, but he frankly admitted that
the Communists were in virtual control; that non-Communist volun-
teers were virtual prisoners, and that the LoyaUst government was
subservient to the Communists in Spain.

The committee sent the testimony of some of these witnesses to the
Department of Justice and requested a thorough investigation with
the view of punishing violators of the neutrality act.

V. Fascism and Nazi-ism in the United States

In its investigation of Nazi and Fascist activities in the United
States, this committee, recognizing the splendid work done by the
McCormack Committee, which made its report to Congress on Febru-
ary 15, 1935, has started where that group left off.

The so-called McCormack Committee investigated and traced the
Nazi movement in the United States from the days when Kurt Georg
Wilhelm Luedecke became their first real representative here on
through the various steps taken imtil we come to the creation of the
German- American Bund.

The German- American Bund had as its predecessors the "Teutonia
Society" and "The Friends of the New Germany."

This committee had divided its Nazi and Fascist investigation into
a nmnber of subtitles which we classify as follows: Storm troops,
correspondence and records, youth movement, consular aid, funds and
propaganda, guns, rifle ranges, etc., Nazi-Fascist merger, German
Bund, Italian Black Shirts, un-American organizations.

It was definitely shown that the Nazi activities in the United States
have their counterpart in everything that has been and is being done
by similar movements of Nazi minorities in Mexico, South America,
and Europe.

These Nazi activities in the United States are traceable to and
linked with Government-controlled agencies in Nazi Germany, and
it is not unreasonable to suppose that unless checked immediately
an American-Nazi force may cause great unrest and serious reper-
cussions in the United States.

At this point it should be made distinctly clear that the Nazi ranks
in the United States are not really German-Americans but rather
American-Germans. In other words, they consider themselves the
identical type of minority as the Pohsh-German minority in Poland,
the Austrian-German minority which recently brought about the
annexation of Austria, or the Sudeten Germans in Czechoslovakia
(vol. 2, p. 1108).

As an indication of the thoroughness with which this Nazi minority
has been operating in this country through its connections with
Germany, evidence was introduced showing that the oflBcial newspaper
of the German-American Bund has had advance information on what
was about to transpire in Germany and gave every evidence of inti-
mate knowledge of events to come.

92 ON-AMERICAN ACTIVITIES AND PROPAGANDA

This committee heard testimony showing that the use of storm
troops, the youth movement, the training and drilling, the consular
aid — m fact all of the Nazi activities here are on lines identical with
those used abroad.

There are approximately 80 Bund posts in the United States.
There are no positive or definite figures of the membership although
it can be stated that there are approximately 25,000 active members
in the German-American Bund. The fact has also been estabished
that some 100,000 persons are willing to be seen at the pubhc mani-
festations of the Bund.

The Department of Justice conducted an extensive hivestigation of
the Nazi activities in the United States. It carefully investigated
the German-American Bund and estimated the total membership of
this organization at 6,500.

STORM TROOPS

From this mcmbei"ship, the German-American Bund can muster
within its owti ranks a uniformed force of 5,000 storm troops and it
was testified that in time of necessity this force could be augmented
with "strong-arm" detachments of allied groui)s, such as Italian
Black Shirts, Silver Shirts, Ukrainians, White Kussians, and similar
organizations (vol. 2, p. 1110).

Kepcatcdly it has been asserted that the storm-troop division of the
Bund is nothing more than a force of ushers for public meetings.
The fact is that this storm-troop division of the Bund is patterned
after the Hitler storm troops and its members are the political soldiers
of a Hitlcr-hispired movement in the United States. A witness
testified that from the manpower of this force the Bund, working
hand in hand with the German Government, can draft men for a
sabotage machine and spy net.

Despite assertions by the heads of the German-American Bund that
there are no German citizens in the storm-troop ranks, evidence
presented before this committee clearly shows that members of that
organization in all parts of the United States have privately admitteil
that they arc not American citizens but are German citizens and in
many cases have boasted that they never intend to become American
citizens.

This committee has failed to find any reason for the existence of
such storm-troop groups, but there is no Federal statute to prevent
their formation and activities.

A witness testified that Herman Schwarzmann, leader of the
Astoria, Long Island, post, read a book of German Army instructions
to his storm troops, explaining it as follows:

I am reading this to you not so much because I want you to know what my
duties are, but because some day all of you may be fuehrers of your own groups.
You can reach these heights if you work hard and come to thoroughly understand
the problems before us. Every storm trooper should look forward to the day
when he may become a fuclirer himself. He must know how to handle people, he
must understand people, he must be able to lead and teach them.

I tell you that exactly what happed some years ago is happening now in this
country. In Germany the people finally rose up in resentment. This will haijpeu
here. It is inevitable. WHieu that day comes, and it is probably not far off, wo
must be prepared to fight for the right kind of government. We must win the
masses to our side. There wiU be bloodshed and fighting. We shall have to do
our part.

UN-AMERICAN ACTIVITIES AND PROPAGANDA 93

No one knows where we shaU have to go — New Jersey, New York, or some other
part of the country, or what we may be called upon to do. When that time
comes every man must be thoroughly trained to assume his responsibility. The
important duties, of course, will fall upon the shoulders of our membership.
(Implying the storm-troop membership.)

You may think I am just dreaming or talking in the clouds. But I teU you I
know what I'm talking about. This trouble will come probably sooner than you
think. It has to come, judging from the trends of the Nation.

When we understand how Germans handled their situation in Germany we
shall know how to handle the difficulty which will arise in America. In aU likeli-
hood the day of trouble will come — Der Tag — with a financial crisis in Washing-
ton. Then will be the time to wipe out our enemies.

Remember we are still Germans, for blood is stronger than paper, even though
we are also American citizens. And as American citizens we have the same
rights as any other citizen. But our rights have not been observed. The storm
troops are not even permitted to march on the streets. The controlled press will
not print our side of the story. Some day that will be changed, for some day
we shall demand our rights.

It was testified before the committee that although the Nazis in
this country claun to follow democratic ideas in electing their officers
in reality the elections were conducted along the lines of recent
European plebiscites where everything is under such control that no
one dares vote against the macliine (vol. 2, p. 1113).

Another indication of the close connection between the German-
American Bund and the Fatherland is to be found in the evidence
showing that crews of German warships have been entertained by the
storm troops of the Bund. German World War veterans are active
in storm-troop ranks and help train and drill the men.

Many Bund storm troopers are constantly urged to make and have
made trips to Germany, returning with great quantities of Nazi
propaganda material (vol. 2, p. 1114).

Members of the Nazi groups have been found to be working in
some of the great aviation manufacturing companies of the United
States. They were found working in the United States Navy ship-
yards where they had succeeded in securing positions which placed
them in direct possession of secret plans for the construction of United
States Navy battleships of the latest type. They have even been
assigned to trial runs on the latest type of these ships (vol. 2, p. 1115).

This committee also learned that as the result of its recent national
convention in New York — the one held in September 1938 — the
German-American Bund is planning to create a strictly American
division in conjunction with the bund. First steps in this direction
have already been taken by the high command of the German-
American Bund. If this plan is carried out, a merger of a number of
minor subversive forces in this country may be expected under the
swastika leadership of Fritz Kuhn and the German-American Bund.

CORRESPONDENCE AND RECORDS

The investigation of this committee into Nazi activities was
seriously hampered and handicapped because as soon as the resolution
creating the committee had been adopted by the Congress, officials
of the German-American Bund issued an order to their posts through-
out the country to destroy all their records.

H. Kept. 2, 76-1-

94 XJN-AMERICAN ACTIVITIES AND PROPAGANDA

Dr. Otto Willumeit, 4344 North Sheridan Road, Cliicago, 111., in
a sworn statement made on July 15, 1938, said:

I became an American citizen in 1932 at Hammond, Ind. Shortly after taking
over the leadership of the local chapter, I received a letter from Fritz Kuhn, of
New York. I carried this letter with me for about a month and recently tore it up
as I did not believe it was important. This letter, although I do not remember
the exact wording, advised me that in view of the coming congressional investiga-
tion of the bund, Mr. Kuhn deemed it advisable for me to destroy all correspond-
ence between the local bund and Germany. Ho further pointed out that no
matter how harmless It may be, the letters could be Interpreted in a dillerent
light (vol. 1, p. 42).

Another affidavit, part of the proof that Fritz Kuhn, head of the
Gennan-American JBund, had ordered records of that orf2;ani7>ation
destroyed, was made by George Froboeso, who resides at 3227 North
Second Street, Milwaukee, Wis., and who is the leader of the middle
west district of the bund. He stated:

I have been asked by Mr. Kuhn to destroy such private letters as may be Inter-

?ireted as being inconsistent with the proper behavior of an American citizen
vol. 2, p. 1144).

However, the investigator for the committee was able to secure pos-
session of 25 letters which constituted correspondence between the
Chicago Bund post and Nazi Germany (^vol. 1, pp. 29 tlirough 40).

In this correspondence it was defimtely shown that the Foreign
Institute of the Nazi Government at Stuttgart was one of the instru-
mentalities used in assisting the German- American Bund in spreading
propaganda in this country. One of the letters (vol. 1, p. 31) proves
conclusively a Nazi Government plan to take AJnerican cliildren on
vacations to Germany and the letter states that "properly handled,
this can be of the utmost importance for the development of foreign
connections."

And another quotation from the same letter —

Friendships cannot be made early enough. Youth is especially susceptible at
this period. The impressions of a youth in a foreign country influence hundreds
of his comrades on his return.

Other correspondence definitely indicates that German consulates
in the United States have been the clearing houses for much of the
Nazi activity here (vol. 1, p. 38).

Throughout this entire correspondence there is definite evidence
and proof that the groups operated in this country are directed by
organizations in Germany which get their support and direction from
the German Government itself. Despite this connection, none of these
groups in this country have registered with the Secretary of State in
accordance with the foreign propaganda law which became effective
September 8, 1938.

In fact, the Foreign Institute at Stuttgart is being conducted by
one Fritz Gissibl, a former leader of the Nazi group in this country
and whose brother even now is a member and leader of the Nazi group
in Chicago.

Photographs placed in evidence before the committee, properly
identified, snow a number of German consuls in this country taking
an active part in the affairs of the German- American Bund and par-
ticularly in the Nazi festivities arranged at a number of camps through-
out the United States (vol. 2, p. 1122).

UN-AMERICAN ACTIVITIES AND PROPAGANDA 95

YOUTH MOVEMENT

Some German- American children are being Hitlerized by the leaders
of the German- American Bmid, despite the fact that under the Amer-
ican law every child born in this comitry is an American citizen.

The evidence thus far heard indicates that every effort is being
expended by the bund's high command to instill in these boys and
girls, most of whom have never even been outside the United States,
the doctrines of racial and religious hatreds preached under the pagan
German kultur (vol. 2, p. 1123).

American ideals and principles of democracy are boldly shoved into
the background and a worship of Hitlerism is inculcated in these
youthful unsuspecting minds. Although the committee's investi-
gator frequently visited Nazi camps in various parts of the country,
he testified that never once was there an occasion where he saw these
nazified children led to a Christian religious service in a youth camp.

Health, Hitler, Heils, and Hatred are the "4-H'8" used by United
States Nazis to prevent Americanization of children whose parents
are members of the German- American Bund.

In the coming years all the unity and all the efforts will be required in order to
put a stop to the former crippling by the Americanization of their young —

declares the bund yearbook, reprinted from the German magazine
Deutsche Arbeit, in referring to children of Germany who have
emigrated to America.

Hence —

the yearbook states, after pointing out that Germany's youth move-
ment at home must confine itself to German children still in the
Fatherland —

the youth groups of the German-American Bund are a real achievement for
Germany.

In forwarding this program, childish voices ring out in a crescendo
of "HeU Hitlers" in German- American camps throughout the Nation.

These American boys and girls sing hymns to Der Fuehrer and to
the Fatherland they never have seen.

"Our youth are the Hfeline of our movement," leaders repeatedly
insist. "We may be gone soon and the youth must carry on our
fight. ♦ ♦ *."

Under the guise of health, some German-American children are
being trained and marched away from the democratic traditions of
America.

They must learn to speak fluent German and to understand the Nazi
ideology. They hsten to lectures on the Hitler philosophy and the
policies of the Third Eeich.

In its youth movement, as in the parent organization, the bund
professes a defense of the United States Constitution and "true
Americanism." But the camps are completely Nazi German. The
United States is forgotten except for an occasional display of American
flags. The swastika of Germany is the important flag to the boy and
girl scouts. "Old Glory" is of secondary importance (vol. 2, p. 1124).

The scouts eat, sleep, talk, and dream nazi-ism with the same fervor
of the regimented youth of Germany. They are taught to avoid

96 UN-ASIERICAN ACTIVITIES AND PUOPAGANDA

outside "contaminnting influences." American history, according
to testimon}^ before the committee, is revised in pubHc addresses for
them to show that this country has been saved from destruction only
through the infhience of German-Americans.

Just as in Germany, the vouth movement is divided into three
sections — the Jungenschaft (boys); the Maedchenschaft (girls), and
the Jungvolk (smaller children too young to join other groups).

Youngsters are thrust into the Jungvolk organization when only 5
and 6 years old. They wear uniforms of brown and blue shorts or
skirts, white blouses with IIitle^-bro^vn scarfs. Older boys wear
brown sliirts with Sam Browne belts, military trousers and boots, and
are armed with long hunting knives and spears.

Youths graduate into the "Ordnungs Dienst," the storm-troop
organization of the bund, and are trained mentally and physically to
lead the troops when the often predicted "trouble" comes. Scouts
are told they must be prepared to withstand the onrush of the coming
"red" revolution.

From their elders, scouts learn to be suspicious of strangers. They
will not discuss the bund unless they know the listener is sympathetic.
The investigator for the committee testified that ho entered Turner
Hall at Eighty-fifth Street and Lexington Avenue in the Yorkvillo
German section of New York City, where the bund holds many of its
meetings, and asked a young scout fuehrer where the bund head-
quarters were situated.

"Bund?" the youth asked in pretended ignorance. "I don't know
anything about the bund."

Investigation by this investigator disclosed that beyond the door
he was guarding a group of boys and girls were attending one of the
"Bundes-Redner-Schule." A propaganda film showing the delights
of new Germany was part of the day's instruction.

Landesjugendfuehrer (national youth leader) is Thcodor Dinke-
lacker, 9238 Lamont Avenue, Elmhurst, Long Island. Under 30,
Dinkelacker devotes aU of his time to drilling and teaclung potential
national socialists. He leads them in parades beliind the storm troops
at summer festivals and in the city drill halls of the bund during the
winter.

Our youth love the fight-^

Dinkelacker explained to a witness.

They are mostly sons and daughters of old fighters and thus they will not permit
the fighting spirit of the bund to die out.

National socialism is a world-wide philosophy of strength. We teach our youth
along these lines so that they may take the right road in life. We instill in them
pride of German nationality and race. We insist on order and discipline to build
character and a broad athletic program to build the body.

Youth bunds are proud of being the future of "the only fighting
organization in German-America" Dinkelacker says according to
testimony before the comrmttee, and "will always look down with
contempt upon those who avoid the battle, who gather in Uttle groups
and clubs in order, when they reach manhood, to change into rabbit-
breeding societies or bowling clubs" (vol. 2, p. 1125).

All boys and girls —

he continued, according to this same testimony —

have the obligation to keep themselves strong and healthy for their German race;
healthy in order to transmit as a link in an unending chain the heritage of our

UN-AMERICAN ACTIVITIES AND I'ROPAGANDA 97

ancestors to the coming generation; strong in order to ward off every attack against
the German race; poUticaliy and economically.

The bund youth group "does not only have the purpose to breed a
new generation, as certain mahcious tongues assert," Dinkelacker
explained, according to the testimony of a witness before the com-
mittee.

We wish to train the young to become useful members of the German racial
community. We wish to train our youth groups to such an extent that by observa-
tion we may be able to pick out talented boys and girls, support them in their
education, and thus create the possibility that the most capable be placed at the
head, for the benefit not only of the German element but of the entire Nation.

Camp Hindenburg, near Grafton, Wis., 18 miles north of Milwaukee,
is the "summer home" of Chicago and Milwaukee scouts. The camp
is in its third year. There was also testimony that two signs, one in
blue and one in red, point the way to the camp down a gravel road
from U. S. Highway 141. The signs are lettered merely "A. V."
The camp itself is set in the valley surrounded by wooded hills with
the Milwaukee River providing swimming facilities on the west side
of the tract. There is a parldng lot for autos tlirough which one must
pass before entering the camp proper. The camp and lot are separated
by a wire fence with a single pole carrying a sign "Private property."

Unlike the eastern camps, there are no elaborate permanent build-
ings at Camp Hindenburg. The Kaffee Kucha (coffee kitchen) and
beer stand are housed in small wooden structures. Tents are set in a
circle. In the center is a tall flagpole from which are flown the Amer-
ican flag and the Jungenschaft flag — a white streak of lightning or half
swastika on a black background. Regulation German swastika flag3
are displayed on special occasions.

About 80 boys from Chicago and Milwaukee gave up the tents on
August 1, after a 2-week stay at the camp, and about 100 girls moved
in. The boys and girls marched behind a military band of German
World War veterans to the flagpole for a ceremony, during which the
boys' flag was replaced by that of the girls' organization.

Uniforms worn by the Chicago and Milwaukee boys include a wide
brown belt with a silver buckle bearing a swastika and the legend
"Blut and Ehre" (blood and honor). One boy displayed a hunting
knife which had a similar inscription on the blade.

Chicago boys and girls when not in camp meet once a week or
oftener at the Bundesheim (bund home) at 3853 North Western
Avenue and at the south side headquarters at 605 West Sixtieth
Street. They also attend the Theodore Koerner Schule, operated
at the north side home.

The American Nazi youth movement is much stronger in the East
and Middle West than in the Far West,

According to one witness, the west coast bund members enthusiasti-
cally welcomed Erich Barischoff, member of the Brooldyn, N. Y.,
Jungenschaft, who appeared at Deutsches Haus, Los Angeles head-
quarters, August 1 , after a 24-day hike across the country. Erich \vsls
en route to the Dutch East Indies and thence to Germany to visit
relatives. According to testimony before the committee he had
nothing but scorn for the American Boy Scouts (vol. 2, p. 1126).

They're sissies —

he exclaimed.

98 UN-AMERICAN ACTIVITIES AND PROPAGANDA

They don't know what hardships are like. They take little walks while we
travel hundreds of miles. There is no comparison between the American Boy
Scouts and the Jungenschaft. The Americans are babies alongside of us.

The Philadelphia youth encampment is part of the bund layout of
the Deutschorst Country Club, near Croydon, Pa. Forty boys and
25 girls hve in tents and in an old mansion, which had been used at
one time as a speakeasy and later as a home for wayward girls before
the bund leased it 4 years ago, according to testimony before the
committee. The owner offered to sell the property to the bund for
.$12,000 4 years ago but boosted his price to $18,000 last summer
just before the lease expired.

A Philadelphia storm trooper in a conversation with his fuehrer,
G. W. Kunze, on July 25, revealed "how we fooled those newspaper-
men." A reporter and photographer of the Phdadelpliia Record
spent several hours at the camp that day.

They didn't see a thing and got only a lot of pictures that don't mean anything —

the trooper explained.

The funniest thing happened when they went to the youth camp. All they saw
was the boys and their tents with a little American flag on the stafT. They
didn't get to see our flag.

The trooper indicated the swastika had been removed purposely for
the day in anticipation of newspaper photographers.

Efdende camp, 9 miles north of Pontiac, Mich., serves the Detroit
post. It does not compare in size or in buildings and improvements
with the eastern camps. Entrance is down a side road off United
States Highway 10 at the Springfield Gladiola Farms. A small sign
reads "Summer Camp A. V." Detroit members are cautious about
displaying swastikas or other Hitler emblems at their camp.

A small frame building houses a kitchen and bar near the lake shore
while headquarters for the Jungenschaft is beyond an athletic field.
About 20 girls and 30 boys are accommodated in separate units of a
one-story building.

The most elaborate of the bund's camps are Siegfried, near Yaphank,
Long Island, and Nordland, near Andover, N. J. It was at a youtli
celebration at Camp Siegfried on July 11, that National Leader Fritz
Kuhn, according to testimony, said:

The youth of our great bund are the hope, the life line of our organization.
Through them we must live into the future. It is, therefore, necessary that we
must stand united behind them, educate them and raise them to manhood and
womanhood with our ideals imbedded in their hearts. We must fight together
for their freedom.

We must work to win over the youth of all German-Americans and some day
when our labor has reaped its reward we shall hear fine and strong German-
American youths come marching from the east and west, from the south and
north — marching onward to build a greater nation.

When "Achtung" 1 (Attention) rings out over the loudspeaker system
in the eastern camps, scouts as well as storm troopers hurry to atten-
tion. If it is Sunday morning at Camp Siegfried, boys and girls form
into separate ranks and prepare to greet storm troopers and other
bund members arriving from New York on a special train.

Some of the scouts march behind the German swastika and the
American flag to the railroad station 2 miles away through Yaphank.
They line up at attention beside the track and, as the train pulls in,
thfur arms are outstretched iu a Hitler salute to the arriving guests.

UN-AaiERICAN ACTIVITIES AND PROPAGANDA 99

With a band blaring a stirring German march, the scouts and
guests — 500 or more strong — march back through the village to the
camp where another contingent of scouts is at attention "heiling" the
arriving storm troops.

At Siegfried and at other eastern bund camps, separate tent encamp-
ments for boys and girls are set back in the woods, away from the main
building and cottages where their parents drink beer and dance.
Sentries stand guard at entrances to the rows of tents. Visitors —
even parents of the scouts — are not permitted in the youth camps
proper._ Scouts on duty in the camps must come to the entrances to
visit with their parents. If not on duty, they are permitted to roam
through the entire camp layout at will.

A German steel helmet and a long lance are part of the equipment
of the guard at the entrance to the boys' camp at Siegfried. The lance
and helmet are passed along to each boy as he takes up sentry duty.
Commands and conversations among the scouts are entirely in
German, but they politely answer questions in English (vol. 2, p. 1127).

Discipline is rigid. Some scouts are assigned to duty at soft-drink
stands in camp on Sunday. Others carry water to perspiring troopers.

German- Americans can send their children to the camp for from
$3.50 to $5 a week. If their parents have the money, the cliildren
remain in camp all summer and enjoy a theoretical 3-month trip to
Germany.

Camps are supported partly from contributions. Otto Arndt, one
of the most active of the New York area storm troops, according to
testimony, said his contributions to the Jungenschaft amounted to
$25,000 during a year.

A collection was taken up for the Jungenschaft at the end of a night
boat trip up the Hudson which outwardly had no connection with the
bund, but which was sponsored by the Steneck travel bureau.

The youth camp at Siegfried is a half mile around a lake from the
main camp building. A two-story stucco building, adaptable for
winter use, serves as headquarters. Tents are pitched on wooden
foundations back in the woods. At Camp Nordland, set in the wooded
hills of Sussex County, N. J., the tents are in one end of the 100-acre
tract.

Heels click together and the right arm goes out in a Hitler salute
when a scout, boy or girl, is addressed by a youth leader or any storm
trooper in uniform.

Singing forms an important part of the camp training. Both boys
and girls are divided into older and younger groups and learn numerous
songs in praise of Hitler and the new Germany. The boys also have
a fife, bugle, and drum corps, members of which are equipped with
red and white epaulets.

As part of their training for "true Americanism," scouts sing "Heute
Hoert Uns Deutschland — Morgen Die Ganze Welt!" (Today Germany
hears us, tomorrow the whole world) and "We are the friends of the
New Germany" (vd. 2, p. 1128).

They join enthusiastically in singing "Deutschland Ueber Alles" and
the "Horst Wessel," the Hitler national anthem, but have a difficult
time remembering "The Star Spangled Banner."

Girl scouts are trained in the folk dances of Germany and perform
at the various bund functions.

100 UN-AMERICAN ACTIVITIES AND PROPAGANDA

For some of the smaller girls, camp life brings the ordeal of living
away from their parents for the first time.

How quickly a German-American boy can become a part of the
Hitler youth program was explained to a witness who appeared before
the committee, by a woman bund member. She said, according to
this witness, her youthful cousin scorned the camp idea at first, but
after one visit came home singing Nazi songs and remarked that the
German scouts were "real kameraden." After another visit, he be-
came a member. Today, at 19, he is a fuehrer and has learned to
speak German.

"His older brother", she said, "who is in the United States Navy,
makes fun of the boy's scout uniform and his Hitler salute. But we
tell him not to mind, the older brother will learn the truth before
long and realize he too must join the new Germany."

The bund also maintains camps near Buffalo, Schenectady, Cleve-
land, Los Angeles, San Die^o, Oakland, Calif., Spokane, Seattle, Port-
land, Greg., and at St. Louis.

All bund leaders — from Fuehrer Fritz Kuhn down to minor leaders
in local posts — recognize the importance of the youth movement, but
none more than Carl (Papa) Nicolay, South Brooldyn leader and
national speaker since the inception of the organization.

Nicolay, who is nearing 60, ia the most enthusiastic and most verbose
of the bund speakers.

Nicolay wrote of the wonders of Germany under Hitler:

The gradual education away from shallow Internationalism and the often but
not too obvious meaninglessness of its decadent liberalism and democracy * * •
to sound and rational nationalism, which In its very desire for the strength of its
own country and people, will not only tolerate but look to similar national strength
in others, but mate for real peace, therefore, Instead of war.

He wrote of the joy of EQtler youth but did not mention the signs
over Nazi youth camps: "You were bom to die for Germany."

In Germany, all young people are forced by the state youth laws
to become members of the Hitler Youth or the League of German
Girls and undergo national sociaUst schooling. Amencan children of
bund members "love the fight" in the words of the national leader,
Theodor Dinkelacker, and don't need a law to force them into the
regimented organization.

In a mimeographed paper issued by the American naxi youth move-
ment, Hitler is termed the prophet of a new and nobler chapter in
the course of human events." Hia creed ia world-wide, youthful
Americans are told.

He leads the struggle for race preservation against the melting pot idea of
international-minded dabblers in theoretical concepts of the "brotherhood" of
all races.

The setting up of a nation In order; clean and strong, free and unified, is a miracle
which only proves the prophet Is divinely inspired with God-given powers and
insight.

The slumbering embers Adolf Hitler has fanned Into fire in the hearts of Aryan
men will break out into a mighty blaze that will consume the enetay when he
raises his red rags.

The world quivers with the convulsions of an approaching earthquake that will
shake each nation to ita bedrock, bury everything corrupt, and outmoded and
clear away to leave a world of virile, progressive, race-conscious nations.

The article, signed by Paul M. Ochojski, in charge of the EngUsh
columns of the youth paper, thus tells American children of the same

UN-AMERICAN ACTIVITIES AND PROPAGANDA IQl

"approaching revolution" which bund speakers warn their members
to prepare for (vol. 2, p. 1129.)

In another article, Ochojski declares Germans are "vanishing" in
the United States because they "aren't organized and fighting"
against their enemies.

Rallying American children of bund members to answer the battle
call to fight, Ochojski warns that unless action is taken Germans lq
America are "doomed to become a gray, raceless mixture of unskilled
laborers having no voice in politics and no economic power."

There Is no more immigration of new blood from Germany to freshen up the
dying cadaver of Germanic America —

the writer explains.

Organize, keep alive German language and traditions, learn useful and higher
trades, go to schools and colleges, enter professions and politics, fight the enemies
of Germany.

Discipline of bund youth was praised by Herr Weiss, physical edu-
cation mstructor at the organization's Philadelphia youth camp,
Deutschhorst, near Croydon, Pa. He told the committee's investi-
gator the boys and girls in camp obeyed orders "just like little
soldiers."

The boys wore hunting knives encased in leather holsters attached
to their belts. Handles of the knives showed a small swastika.
Asked if the knives were made in New York:

No-
One boy is said to have replied.

The knives come straight from Germany and they can't send enough to supply
everybody who wants one. When the next boat comes over, it will bring many
knives, but there will not be enough to take care of all the orders.

Youth Leader Dinkelacker declared at the bund national con-
vention:

It is highly important that we train them to think our way — the right way.
Every bit of support you give this movement, whether it be financial or otherwise,
is deeply appreciated and most significant. Urge your children and the children
of your friends and relatives to join with us. We have great camps and training
schools for them. The children will benefit by this training indoors and outdoors
and will learn to understand the true meaning of our case and when they have
reached mature life, they wiU rise to fight with us and wiU send their children
to us.

The aims of the Amerika-Deutscher Volksbimd as printed in its
yearbook includes much the same message for youth.

To this youth we bind ourselves in duty to the end that some day it may feel
bound in duty to our nationality and complete what we have begun. To have
trained and strengthened and schooled them for national and racial responsibility,
to be clean, healthy, and strong men and women, that some day shaU be the
fairest reward for our pains, activity, and sacrifices.

An example, pointed out to the conmaittee, of the arrogance of the
American-Nazi machine in its march to indoctrinate Nazi ideaUsm lq
American youth was discovered recently in St. Louis, where reside
some 100,000 German Americans, fomung nearly one-eighth of the
city's population (vol. 2, p. 1130).

It was testified that Nazi propaganda was slyly worked into the
pubUc schools of that city in recent months under the guise of summer
German-language classes; that ostensibly, the plan was to simply

102 UN-AMEllICAN ACTIVITIES AND PROPAGANDA

teach the Gormnn language and sing German folk songs, but before
very long it became apparent this was not at all the real purposes of
the classes. Instead, instructions drifted into Nazi doctrines.

According to evidence before the committee, these classes were
inaugurated through the efforts of a Mr. ^^'altcr Rist, a native-born
citizen of St. Louis, last May. Fifteen fellow teachers and laymen
were enlisted for this i)ropaganda work. These instructors, according
to this same testimony, olTered their services without compensation,
at least none from the schools. They also obtained classrooms in two
public schools Jind succeeded in enrolling some 400 students.

Some highly interesting facts in conjunction with this Nazi propa-
ganda schooling of American boys and girls has, however, come to the
attention of the committee. After every Saturday class, trucks picked
up some 50 of the children and carried them 55 miles to a Nazi camp
near Stanton, Mo. This camp site is operated by the Deutsch-
Amerikanische Bcrufgemeinschaft and is under the direction of
Eberhard von Blankenhagen, former Consul Secretary of the German
Embassy in Washington, according to this same testimony.

In manner similar to other Nazi camps throughout the country, this
site is run with Prussian military precision. German is spoken every-
where and cliildren are forced to don uniforms and so make their
appearances at meetings and meals.

American educational institutions throughout the United States
offer in their curriculums any number of German classes. Yet
despite this fact, according to a witness, the German-American Bund
has set up a German school system of its own. If these bund schools
are purely for teaching the German language, why has the bund
created a secret school system of its own?

Schools just like these Bund classes have been opened by Nazi
minorities not j\ist in the United States but also in many other lands,
such as South America, Poland, and in the Sudeten areas.

At the national convention of the German-American Bund held a
year ago in the Biltmore Hotel, New York, Bund oflicials from all
sections of the United States heard at length a talk by a representative
of the Polish-German Bund on this very subject. He outlined in
detail just how the Naii minority in Poland had succeeded in setting
up this hidden school system, along with its own Kultur church system.
And to the cheers of bund leaders, he forecast that the day is not
far ofT when Germany would succeed in building up through the
German-American Bund an identical program in the United States
(vol. 2, p. 1131).

The spread of the Hitler youth movement within the ranks of the
German-American Bund is reflected in a list of boys' units which
have been established, which are experiencing a continued growth iu
numbers. This list includes the following:

Eastern district: Manhattan, N. Y.; Brooklyn, N. Y.; BulTalo, N. Y.; Hudson
County, N. J.; Philadelphia, Pa.; Newark, N. J.; Nassau County, Long Island;
Astoria, Long Lsland; Bronx, N. Y. ; White Plains, N. Y.; Jamaica, Long Island;
South Brooklyn, X. Y.; Schenectady, N. Y.; Yonkers, N. Y.; Lindenhurst, Long
Island; Pittsburgli, Pa.; Passaic, N. J.

Middle West district: Detroit, Mich.; Chicago, 111.; Milwaukee, Wis.; Cleve-
land, Ohio; and Kenosha, Wis.

Western district: Los Angeles, Calif.

It is of interest to note the purchase of a site for youth camps in
Camp Siegfried, at a cost of $8,000, that Theodore Duikelacker, ua-

UN-AMERICAN ACTIVITIES AND PROPAGANDA 1Q3

tional youth leader of the German-American Bund, has advised that
the money used in this purchase was raised by loans from the Long
Island membership of the German- American Bund, and particularly
from parents of the children. Dinkelacker also declared that the
older boys in the children's camp are given instructions in ways in
which they should avoid it. He stated that the older boys are also
given instructions in national sociahsm.

However, when this same national youth leader was asked:

Do you give them instructions in our democratic form of government?

Dinkelacker is said to have rephed as follows:

No, they are too young to understand about Republicans, Democrats, etc.

In other words, it is the beUef of the bund that these boys and
girls are too young to be taught Americanism but old enough to instill
in them Nazi ideology.

Along this same line it is of interest to note that Spellsberg, who
was a former leader of the San Francisco storm troops, does not
think it is worth while for the bund to try to win over these German
Americans who came to the United States before the World War.
Spellsberg, who trained speakers of the German-American Bund for
propaganda purposes, points out instead as follows: "Get the youth!"

So closely related is the youth movement of the German-American
Bund to that of the Hitler youth in Germany that they even sing the
songs of the Hitler youth and reprint them in their song books (vol. 2,
p. 1132).

On page 3 of the issue No. 6 of Junges Volk for June 1937, there are
German songs of this character. The first song contains the words:

We have sworn an oath to our flag.
The second verse states:

The flag is our faith in God, people, and country,

Whoever wants to rob it, may rather take our lives and hands,

We shall care for the flag like for our good mother

Because the flag means tomorrow and honor and courage.

It should be made very clear in this connection that the flag referred
to by the bund and its youth movement is not the Stars and Stripes
of America but the swastika of Germany.

Another song on the same page is quoted as follows:

Fly, you sparks, fly into our time.
Announce war to all far and near
Who dare argue with us and who
Carry discord in their hearts.

On page 4 of the same issue there appears a song which is quoted
as follows:

Youth, Youth — We are the future soldiers.

Youth, Youth — We are the ones to carry out future deeds.

Yes; through our fists will be smashed who stands in our way.

Youth, Youth — We are the future soldiers.

Youth, Youth — We are the ones to carry out future deeds.

Fuehrer — We belong to you; yes, we comrades belong to you.

Again, it is pointed out that in the last line of this verse, the word
"Fuehrer" does not refer to the President of the United States or any
other American, but to Adolf Hitler, of Germany.

104 UN-AMERICAN ACTIVITIES AND TUOPAG.VNDA

In effect, therefore, the Bund babies sing:

Hitler, we belong to you; yes, we comrades belong to you.

The practice of spreading Nazi propaganda through educational
institutions does not, however, stop here. It has crept into many
American institutions of higher learning.

One of the most alarming ways of Nazi propaganda along this line
has swept through the ranks of exchange students to universities.

The purpose of the "exchange students" to universities has long
been to foster good will and peace among the nations. The American
student in a European university learns of the customs, habits, and
cultural progress of the country in which he studies. The European
student in an American school learns to appreciate American cidtui-o.
The result is greater understanding.

But this worthwhile aim has been neglected in the exchange of
German students for American. Now, American students are being
indoctrinated with the aims of nazi-ism in Germany both abroad and
at home to the detriment of democratic institutions in America
(vol. 2, p. 1133).

Take, for instance, the case of the Committee on American Youth
Camp in Germany. This committee arranges trips and stays for
American 5''ouths in Germany. On the letterheads of this committee
there is found the names of the following persons:

Dr. Colin Ross, Munich.

Professor Sprengling, University of Chicago.

Mrs. Dupoiit Ruoff, Wilmington, Del.

Mr. Leslie Bissel, Munich.

Mrs. Elsie von Johnson, Munich (formerly of Galveston).

It should be noted that according to testimony we heard. Dr.
Colin lloss is a Nazi propagandist who spends his time between
Germany and the United States, lie has been one of the outstanding
speakers for the German-American Bund and has been a wTiter for
the WeclsTuf, official organ of the bund (vol. 2, pp. 1133 and 1134)

It is of interest to note that the following article in connection
with the Student Exchange idea, which appeared November 14 in the
New York Times, having been cabled from Berlin:

Berlin. — A marked increase in the number of American private preparatory
schools exchanging students with the official National Socialist boarding schools,
called National Political Education Institutes, is represented here as another
victory for national socialism over foreign prejudice.

Several American boarding schools have been sending students for a year's
training in National Socialist institutions. This year has seen a notable increase
in the American schools taking part. In the past there has been no difficulty in
finding young National Socialists to go to the United States since their expenses
are paid by the State. However, very few young Americans could be found for
exchange purposes. Largely because of vigorous propaganda by the international
schoolboy fellowship, this situation has been altered. The American boys here
undergo a year's thorough training in national socialism and war the customary
brown-shirt uniform.

Photographs taken at many of the youth camps were introduced in
evidence. In one instance pictures of cliildren six years old were
sho^\^l with the swastika, regulation German Army steel helmets and
spears instead of the American ffag.

UN-AMERICAN ACTIVITIES AND PROPAGANDA 105

CONSULAR AID

Denials to the contrary notwithstanding, this committee was
greatly impressed with the evidence presented showing that there is
a relationship existing between the German Government and the
German-American Bimd through the activities of Nazi comisuls in
this coimtry.

Fritz Kuhn, leader of the German-American Bund, informed this
committee's investigator at a time when the latter was disguised as a
storm trooper that not only did he have power over the Ambassador
and consular set-up in the United States but that he also had a special
secret arrangement directly with Adolf Hitler, of Germany.

Ramifications of this "arrangement," Kuhn declared, also included
a secret relationship between the German-American Bund and Dr.
Hans Heinrich Dieckhoff, present German Ambassador to the United
States, and German consuls throughout the country. (See vol. 2, p.
1149.)

In his executive office on the second floor of the bund national head-
quarters at 178 East Eighty-fifth Street, New York City, on the night
of August 16, 1937, this committee's investigator testified that he spoke
with Kuhn concerning a trip he had made to the Pacific coast and told
him of the difficulties the Los Angeles Post had had with the German
consul there. According to this testimony, Kuhn exclaimed:

My God, what's the matter with them. They know what to do. Why don't
they let me know about it? I've heard before of this trouble in Los Angeles.
Schwinn talked it over with me.

(This Schwinn is Hermann Schwinn, western leader of the German-
American Bund. He is from Los Angeles.)

Oh, well, maybe Schwinn took my order of instructions with him to Germany
and forgot to send it to his district.

It was at this point that Kuhn mad-e the following statement to the
investigator for the committee:

You see, I have a certain special arrangement with Hitler and Germany that
whenever any of our groups have trouble with the consulates in their districts
that they are to report it to me in full detail. I then take it up with the Am-
bassador. Germany is not to be troubled with it unless I get no satisfaction from
the Ambassador.

That is exactly why there is a new Ambassador to the United States, and that
is exactly why many consuls have been and still are being removed. All the new
consuls are National Socialists and are under special instructions to give us the
fullest cooperation in every way.

It should be pointed out that Dr. Hans Heinrich Dieckhoff, present
Ambassador, was sent to the United States, May 14, 1938, to replace
Dr. Hans Luther, whose policy, bund leaders said, did not coincide
with those of the bund and the Nazi Party in Germany. There have
been numerous consulate changes during the last 2 years, and bund
leaders a year ago predicted that more would follow.

One of the new consuls general appointed a Httle over a year ago
was Manfred von Kilhnger, who was assigned to San Francisco on
June 11, 1937. It was shortly after his appointment that the com-
mittee's investigator visited San Francisco and, on the night of August
16, 1937, reported to Kuhn that the San Francisco post of the German-

106 UN-AMERICAN ACTIVITIES AND PROPAGANDA

American Bund was well pleased with its new consul. Kuhn stated,
according to the investigator for the committee:

Of course, he is the kind of consul we want everywhere.

An article of considerable interest in this connection with the
affairs of Baron von Kilhnger was published only recently in the Salt
Lake City Tribune — to be exact, on August 16. The following ex-
cerpts from the article:

"The German Government looks upon bund activities in American exclusively
as an internal problem of this country, since only American citizens may Ijclong
to bunds, " Baron Manfred von Killinger, German consul general at San Francisco,
asserted here Monday.

It is a fact that the ranks of the American-German Bund include
not only American citizens but also aliens. This fact has been estab-
lished in admission to the committee investigator by various members
of the bund to the effect that "they are German citizens and intend
to remain aliens."

The article continues as follows:

The consul, rated as the No. 2 German in America and close friend of Hitler,
was a storm-troop leader in middle Germany and, after Hitler's rise to power,
became Prime Minister of Saxony, relinquishine; this position in 1935, when state
governments were abolished, to enter the diplomatic service.

Although denying emphatically any connection between the German Govern-
ment and bund camps and organizations for training pro-Nazis in this country.
Baron von Kiilinger expressed sympathy with bund aims.

"The bund leader in Los Angeles has conferred with me and asked me to ad-
dress members there," the consul related, "but that does not mean I have gone
to them."

It is known that Von Kjllinger has addressed meetings on the coast,
and newspapers on the Pacific coast have carried many articles and
pictures of these gatherings, many of them showing Consul von
Killinger.

Consul von Killinger was also reported as stating that the activities
against certain rehgious groups in this country, as practiced by the
German American Bund, are "for the good of America."

The committee had before it evidence (vol. 2, p. 1151) that certain
American citizens residing in Cahfornia had made trips to Germany
for the purpose of being schooled in the art of Nazi propaganda and
enlightenment. In one instance the father of one of these men
(vol. 2, p. 1151) told this committee's investigator that his son's ex-
penses to Germany had been paid through a secret arrangement
between the German-American Bund and the Nazi Government.

The consuls and diplomatic representatives of Nazi Germany in
tliis country show a much closer cooperation with the nationalists of
their country than any other similar ^roup accredited here.

In fact, the evidence introduced plamly shows that American Citi-
zens have received Nazi propaganda by mail in packages carrying the
impiint of the Nazi consultate at St. houis (vol. 2, p. 1156).

In addition to the close relationship between the German consular
service and the German- American Bund throughout the United States,
cooperative actions have been noted also between bund officials and
officials of German steamsliip fines.

According to the daily press, Fritz Kuhn, leader of the German-
American Bund, has denied the accuracy and authenticity of state-
ments attributed to him by the investigator for tins committee. Tlus
committee has informed the aforementioned Kuhn that it would be

UN-AMERICAN ACTIVITIES AND PROPAGANDA 107

very glad to have him appear as a witness and make his denials under
oath provided he came in with clean hands and brought with him the
full and complete records of his organization showing not only the
membership but the amounts and sources of moneys received and the
manner in which they have been expended.

FUNDS AND PROPAGANDA

Propaganda direct from the German Ministry of Propaganda and
Enlightenment is distributed by bund officials and evidence was intro-
duced showing definitely that printed propaganda material was
shipped from Germany to United States citizens directly. These
packages contained, according to the testimony, considerable Nazi
propaganda which was printed in Germany for distribution in the
Umted States, considerable Fascist propaganda which was printed in
Great Britain for distribution here, and much material of antiracial
and antireligious character which was printed here, shipped to German
Government agencies, and then reshipped to the United States for dis-
tribution in this country.

Much of this propaganda is designed for the specific purpose of
preaching the gospel of national sociahsm and the aim of Nazi Ger-
many in foreign lands from every conceivable angle. The names of
the American citizens to whom this material was sent from Germany
were not permitted in the record because many of them feared reprisals
from agents of Nazi Germany.

Some of the packages containing German material carried with them
letters from one Johannes Klapproth, who is in charge of the American
section of the World Service, one of the chief Nazi propaganda agencies.
This agency, located in Erfurt, Germany, ships material to the United
States and elsewhere. It was referred to briefly on the opening day of
testimony and the evidence presented here is in full substantiation of
statements made at that time.

Before continuing, however, it is well first to consider the back-
ground of Mr. Klapproth. Without making any personal reference
to this man, but relying on another Federal Government departnient,
Klapproth's record is herewith presented, this record being no differ-
ent from that already in possession of this committee:

Klapproth was an original member of the German Nazi Party before Hitler
rose to power. He is fanatically antiracial and deeply interested in the Silver
Shirts movement. He Is continually exchanging reading matter with Silver
Shirt leaders. He was the organizer of the Friends of New Germany in San
Francisco and vicinity. In April 1934 he wrote a report to Germany on the
slow progress of the San Francisco Bund at that time, blaming Consul Heuser for
this condition.

He is acquainted intimately with George Deatherage and Kositsin and corre-
sponds with them. Klapproth is now in Germany.

He came to the United States in 1928. He is an engineer. Going east, he
became the gauleiter [district leader] of Brooklyn for the Nazi movement. This
was early in 1935. He returned to the bay region, supposedly after a visit to
Germany, where he boasted of havhig had a conference with Goering during the
summer of 1936.

Klapproth toured the west coast with Deatherage for the purpose of inter-
viewing pro-Nazi elements. He received mail at the German consulate in San
Francisco. This fact alone once again establishes the tie-up between the German
Government and the German-American Bund.

The packages coming here from abroad contained printed material
from the pen of Ernst Goerner, of Milwaukee, Wis. ; pamphlets from

108 UN-AMERICAN ACTIVITIES AND PROPAGANDA

the Knif^lits of the Wliite Camellia, an organization founded by George
E. Deatherage, of Charleston, W. Va.; leaflets from the Russian
National Union; and issues from the Christian Free Press, printed in
Glendale, Calif.

Contained in the exhibits of propaganda presented to the committee
was a very expensive magazine glorifying CJermany's industrial
achievements. It is significant that while Naziland defaults on its
bonds and no American firm can take its money out of the country,
it is able to finance and distribute such propaganda.

One paradox in this particular propaganda maneuvering is the
fact that the aforementioned Klapproth, apparently backed by a
huge fund for this Nazi work, still asks gullible Americans to send him
money for his printed matter which creates racial and religious
bigotry in this country.

A superior court judge in California, without requesting it in any
way, received four pieces of propaganda put out by the Nazis and
printed in Ciermany, and envelopes advertising Ceorge Deatherage
and his American Nationalist Confederation of Charleston, W. Va.,
which utilizes the swastika as its s3'mbol (vol. 2, p. 1178).

The following affidavit has a vital bearing on this whole matter:

* * * being duly sworn, upon his oath says * * *; That he received,
on or about July 25, 1938, the accompanying pamphlet, entitled "W(;rld Service,"
■which he has attached to this affidavit as exhibit A. That the same was mailed
to him from Erfurt, Germany, in the enclosed envelope, which has been marked
"Exhibit B."

That he did not subscribe for this pamphlet, or publication, and did not request
that it be sent to him. That it is one of a series along similar lines that he has
been receiving at intervals over a considerable jieriod of time.

That he makes this affidavit in order that any parties interested, including the
congressional investigation committee of which Congressman Martin Dies is
chairman, may be informed that printed matter of this character is being for-
warded direct from Germany to citizens of this country, unsolicited and without
their request, as propaganda of a nature to breed racial and religious intolerance
(vol. 2, p. 1178).

Another step in the activities of the Nazi propaganda machine is
shown in the interview had with one Karl Neumeister, 1898 Daly
Avenue, New York City. The investigator for tliis committee testi-
fied that he interviewed Neumeister with the following result:

Neumeister admitted under questioning that he is engaged in
spreading Nazi propaganda. He explained he was doing tins kind of
work because he believed in the principles of Hitlerism. He ad-
mitted that he goes around checking up on people to whom material
of this type is mailed from Germany and that he does everytliing in
liis power to get these people to take more Nazi propaganda and assist
in its distribution throughout the United States.

That many Germans living in the United States go abroad and take
an oath of fealty to the Fuehrer of Germany was shown by evidence
taken from a German newspaper, Der Montag, published in Berlin,
under date of August 27, 1938.

Printing a dispatch from Stuttgart, this newspaper stated:

Der Treueschwurder viclen tausende Auslandsdcutachen auf den Fuehrer and
die nationalen Lieder beschlossen die eindrucksvolle Feierstunde.

The English translation is:

The oath to the Fuehrer of the many thousands of Germans living abroad and
national songs closed the impressive festivities.

UN-AMERICAN ACTIVITIES AND PROPAGANDA 109

Fifty Americans had taken part in this annual meeting of the
Auslandsdeutschen Institute according to our testimony. _

Repeatedly we have been told that there is no connection between
the German-American Bund and the Nazi Government or its political
subdivisions, repeatedly we have been told that no allegiance to
Adolf Hitler is required, and yet here we have an officially inspired
newspaper pubhshed in Germany telling us that an oath of fealty
was taken.

The newspaper refers to this year's meeting as the Sixth Reich
Congress of the Germans in Foreign Countries with delegates attend-
ing from many countries throughout the world.

GUNS, RIFLE RANGES, ETC.

Pistol and rifle ranges for all storm troops of the German- American
Bund were to be set up according to plans formulated at the con-
vention of the bund, held in New York City in July 1937, according
to testimony heard by this committee on October 5, 1938.

Local Nazi units in Philadelphia, Buffalo, Reading, Pa., and Detroit
have target ranges and the Philadelphia Nazi post uses heavy .22-
caliber rifles which are cocked like regulation Army guns.

A target range was set up at Camp Siegfried, Yaphank, Long Island,
and on one occasion Herman Schwarzmann, head of the Astoria,
Long Island, group, announced that the men were to be "trained to
shoot and to take care of guns" (vol. 2, pp. 1206 and 1207).

A shooting range near Cleveland, Ohio, was also described in our
records.

Bund fuehrers informed storm troops that the various German
World War veterans in their ranks would train the younger men in
the use of arms.

It was also testified to that many of these former German soldiers
now in the bund storm troops ranks are expert riflemen, gunsmiths,
and machine gunners.

Testimony also revealed that bund storm troops join^ National
Guard divisions in order to obtain training in the use of various types
of American Army guns.

The committee, in addition, heard testimony which revealed that
less than a year ago Gemian espionage began to make a major effort
in the United States (vol. 2, pp. 1234 and 1235).

Within the past year one section of the Gestapo, service section
No. 2, under the direction of Colonel Nicolai, has added three new
departments, Nos. 23, 24, and 25, all three specifically devoted to
espionage in the United States.

Department 23 specializes in eciDnomic espionage — the obtaining of
American manufacturing and industrial secrets.

Department 24 specializes in military intelligence.

Department 25 specializes in Nazi propaganda.

Of what type this propaganda will be, and how it will affect the
United States, can be learned from pamphlet No. 7 of the Instructions
for Our Friends Overseas — a small brochure printed in a total edition
of 500 copies and given only to reliable agents. A short excerpt will
amply convey the spirit of this "armed propaganda."

H. Eapt. 2, 76-1 8

110 UN-AMERICAN ACTIVITIES AND PROPAGANDA

German propaganda in the United States must be handled more tactfully than
it has been done before. It will not be possible to subsidize American newspapers
except in very rare cases — and only newspapers of minor importance.

The fundamental aim must always be to discredit conditions in the United
States and thus make life in Germany seem enviable by contrast. It will there-
fore be to the best interests of the Reich to cooperate secretly with all persons or
groups who criticize the American system, regardless on what ground. The line
to be taken in all such cases is to exaggerate the strength of Germany and to
contrast it with the weakness of democracies,

NAZI-FASCIST MERGER

The Amerikadeutscher Volksbiind, United States voice of nazi-i?m,
has been seeking to consolidate all Fascist elements in America, with
their varicolored shirts, into one great movement which the Hitler-
inspired bmid is to lead.

The bund marches with the Italian Black Shirts and Ukrainian
Brown Shirts. Leaders of these groups have revealed plans to enlist
the support of other Fascist-inclined groups.

At the same time, Newton Jenkins attempted to unite "nationalist"
groups in a third party w^liile the bund was looking for a leader of its
third-party movement.

Jenkins has addressed many bund meetings and has been referred
to as a "great American" and "Der Fuehrer der Dritten Partei"
(leader of the third party).

"America needs men and women like Hitler to stir her from her
lethargy," says an article in a paper called American NationaUsm,
published by Jenkins.

Fuehrer Herman Schwarzmann, of the Astoria, Long Island, post,
told this committee's investigator that Jenkins planned to unite
"125 national organizations" under his third-party banner.

"American-Germans will be at the top of this merger," Schwarz-
mann declared. "Bundcsfuohrer Kuhn will be one of the chief
leaders of the organization. Jenkins is the organizer of the move-
ment."

The July 4, 1937, celebration at Camp Siegfried marked the first
appearance of Italian Black Shirts at a bund festival in the East. They
were led by Josef Santi, New York commander of the Liktor Assozion,
and their salutes to Mussolini and Hitler drew loud heils from the
crowds.

Black Shirts and a group of Italian World War veterans displayed
their new-found unity with the bund at Camp Nordland, near Andover,
N. J., July 18, 1937. Their leader. Commander Salvatore Caridi,
Union City, N. J., received a great cheer when he advocated a "punch
in the nose" for those Americans who disagree with Mussolini or
Hitler.

John Fhizio, New York, led the Circolo Mario Morgantini, another
Black Shirt group, at the Long Island German Day celebration at
Camp Siegfried, August 29, 1937.

N. A. Melnikofr, president of the Russian National League of
America, was a speaker and said his organization would work with the
bund.

Jenkhis' plan did not place the bund at the top of the merger, he
told the investigator for this committee, although he did have words of
praise for Fritz Gissibl, founder of the Friends of New Germany, which
became the Amerikadeutscher Volksbund in 1936, and who is now a
Nazi official in Germany.

UN-AMERICAN ACTIVITIES AND PROPAGANDA m

"At one time the bund did have a great leader," Jenkins said.
"He was Fritz Gissibl, brother of Peter and a dynamic personality.
He laiew how to organize. But the Government got after him after
several years. And when he could not get citizenship papers he
went back to Germany" (vol. 2, pp. 1209 and 1210).

California bund leaders also told this committee's investigator that
they were "in close touch" with the Gold Shirts of Mexico, who
reportedly were planning a Fascist revolution.

Hans Diebel, Los Angeles bund member, declared two Mexican
Army officers, one a general, visited bund headquarters in Los Angeles
late in July.

Arno Risse, who speaks Spanish as well as German and English,
was in charge of California bund headquarters in the Deutsches Haus,
634 West Fifteenth Street, Los Angeles, while Herman Schwinn,
western fuehrer, w^as in Germany conferring with Nazi officials.

The committee investigator testified that Risse, leader of the San
Gabriel post, told him:

The Klan, Silver Shirts, and Gold Shirts are working with us out here. The
Gold Shirts of Mexico have something like 100,000 members and are getting set
for a revolution. It won't be long before the trouble starts. After that will
come trouble in the United States.

Josef Santi, leader of the Italian Black Shirts in the United States,
stated, according to this committee's investigator July 4 at Camp
Siegfried as follows:

The Black Shirts organized back in 1922 and some of our first members are
still with us. But at the very outset we encountered some serious obstacles,
particularly hand-to-hand fights with our foes, in New York City.

The most serious outbreak at that time was the assassination of several of our
members. They were stabbed in the back while appearing on the street in
uniform. They never had a chance. They were standing alone and talking.
The rest of us were not with them at the moment. They were waiting for us.
We had gone somewhere for newspapers. Suddenly these enemies leaped up
behind them and dug knives into their backs.

This created quite a reaction at the time. Our members did not appear much
in public with their uniforms after that. We remained out of sight, meeting
quietly in each other's homes. But our movement kept growing. Finally, in
1929, we chartered our organization as the Liktor Society, Inc., for every State
of the Union. We decided at that time something had to be done to wipe out our
enemies in this country. They were getting too strong and a menace to the public
with their revolutionary ideals. We felt that we should be more like Mussolini,
come right out in the open and fight for our ideals.

Since then we have organized 35 chapters in the United States and we are
growing very fast.

It is important that we join with the bund against our common enemy. We
are fighting along the same line in the United States as Hitler and Mussolini
have joined hands in Europe.

I'm glad that we have come to the conclusion that we are now strong enough
to really come out in the open.

Many other groups, some of virtually no consequence whatsoever,
were all to be a part and parcel of the idea to merge as many organiza-
tions as possible.

GERMAN BUND

In addition to the storm troop division of the German-American
Bund, there is a closely allied organization laiown as the German
Bund. This German Bund also features a strong-arm force similar
to the German-American Bund storm troops.

In the beginning of the American Nazi movement these organiza-
tions were matched. They were as one. A year or so ago, however,

112 UN-AMERICAN ACTIVITIES AND TROPAGANDA

an order came from Germany demanding that all aliens separate
themselves from the bund. In line with this command from Berlin,
a German Bund was formed in Chicago. The fact remains, however,
the Berlin order was not carried out down the line. In other words,
in all other sections of the country aliens remained in the bund ranks,
sometimes under the subterfuge of prospective citizenry.

The only actual differences between the storm troops of the German-
American Bund and those of the German Bund are that —

1. The German Bund maintains separate headquarters and its own
set of ofhcei"s.

2. The German Bund has a uniform distinctive from that of the
German-American Bund. This uniform bears an extremely close
resemblance to that of the German Sudeten storm troops, while the
German-American Bund has adopted a new uniform which appears to
be a combination of uniforms worn by the German Bund, the American
Legion and the Silver Shirts.

3. The German Bund is openly under an oath of allegiance to
Hitler and to Hitler alone. It takes orders from no one else.

4. All of the members of the German Bund are aliens, and none of
them ever intend to become American citizens.

5. Members of the German Bund are members of the National
Socialist Party of Germany.

6. Members of the German Bund are outspoken in their denuncia-
tion of democracies, constitutional form of government, and every-
tliing that American ideals stand for.

7. This foreign force of storm troops is being trained and drilled on
American soil as a close ally of the German-American Bimd storm
troops.

The committee received the foregoing testimony supported by
documentary proof and photographic evidence (vol. 1, p. 11).

Members of the German Bund, the evidence showed, actually scoffed
at American ideals, American institutions of Government, and are
constantly deriding Americanism in general. Despite these facts,
they are permitted to be trained and drilled on American soil.

The testimony revealed that the German Bund openly preaches a
belief in the Nazi Party program in Germany (vol. 1, p. 76).

Leaders of the German Bund constantly express dissatisfaction with
the democratic form of government and profess a belief that the only
kind of government desirable in this country is national socialism, and
that Americans should have one leader, such as Hitler, to dictate over
all departments of Government.

Drill formations of the German Bund are strictly along the regula-
tions of the German Army.

Prospective members of the organization are investigated not only
in the United States but also as to their standing in Germany. Eacli
prospective member is required to give a reference in tliis country and
In Germany, preferably someone who is related to him and resides
ill Germany.

Members of the German Bund must comply with all orders that
emanate from Germany. These orders are relayed by the German
(iovemment to the German Bund through the German consuls.

The aims and objectives of the German Bund, as distinguished from
other organizations, are to grow as much as possible and to cooperate
with the German-American Bund, to carry out all orders from Ger-
many, to spread Nazi propaganda as and how they are told to do and

UN-AMERICAN ACTIVITIES AND PROPAGANDA H^

to carry out any other orders which might be given them without
questioning the reason.

Any member of the German Bund may be recalled to Germany
at any time, being a subject of that country. Once recalled he would
be quahfied to continue with militarjr training in Germany.

Leaders of the German Bund are in constant communication with
the German consulate. All organization matters are taken up with
the consul, such as obtaining his advice and approval and consulting
him when any question arises. The relationship is so close that leaders
of the German Bund have established arrangements whereby they
may communicate with the German consul at any hour of the day or
night if the need presents itself.

No distinction is made between the children of the German Bund
and those of the German-American Bund. Thej camp together, they
march and drill together. All of them wear uniforms. They are en-
couraged to adhere to German traditions, to speak the German lan-
guage, to sing German songs, and not to associate with American
children as well as to stay away from strangers who might come up
to them and speak Enghsh.

A school is maintained for the nazification of these children. This
is the same school that serves the children of the German-American
Bund.

Children and adult members and storm troops of the German-
American Bund follow the swastika as their flag. The children in
imiform wear belt buckles on which are inscribed in German the
words "blood and honor," They also carry hunting knives with the
swastika on the handle (vol. 1, p. 81).

Fritz Heberling, leader of the Chicago post of the German Bund,
stated, according to a witness before this committee, as follows:

We are under one man only — Hitler. We deal with the consuls general of
Germany in this country. We take orders from Hitler — no one else. We are
stronger, more powerful than the others (meaning the German-American Bund),
but we work with them and get along together.

Heberling explained to the witness that he meant by being stronger
and more powerful that so far as the political consequences with
Germany were involved they were stronger than the German- American
Bund (vol. 1, p. 82).

German Bund storm troops join with Ukrainian Fascists and
German-American Bund storm troops in various public affairs. All
units, fully uniformed, march in parade together. There is close
cooperation between these organizations in matters of mutual interest.

German Bund storm troopers are given opportunities to compete
for chances to become aviation pilots under arrangements made pos-
sible by the Ukrainian Fascist organization. Members selected for
this training receive free courses at the hands of United States Army
pilots. The Ukrainian Fascist organization has for several years
maintained an air force in Chicago.

This is not the only occasion on which aviation activities have
appeared in the functions of the Ukrainian Fascist movement, the
German Bund, and the German- American Bund. Aviators were seen
dropping swastika flags on Camp Nordland, near Andover, N. J., and
also at Camp Deutsch Horst, near Croydon, Pa.

^ On one occasion Fritz Kuhn, leader of the German- American Bund,
visited Chicago to dedicate an airplane of the Ukrainian Fascist
organization.

114 UN-AMERICAN ACTIVITIES AND TROPAGANDA

The Ukrainian Fascist movement extends across the United States,
according to e\'idcnce before this conmiittce. Limited time, man-
powcFj and funds for investigation have prevented, however, a thor-
ough mquiry into the Ukramian Fascist movement. It is known,
however, to the committee that members make frequent trips to
Europe and there confer with Nazi officials as to the future of their
former homehmd, that a propaganda press service has been estab-
lished in New York City, and that the Fascist salute has been in
evidence at a number of Ulo-ainian gatherings in the United States. .

ITALIAN BLACK SHIRTS

American-Italian Black Shirt legions, 10,000 strong, are marching
in America with the same resounding tread as those of the goose-
stepping detachments of Gcrman-Anierican Bund storm troops,
testmiony before the committee revealed (vol. 2, p. 1182).

Behind this Black-Shirt parade there are more than 100,000
Americans of Italian descent who are willing to be seen at the public
manifestations of some 200 Fascist organizations throughout the
United States.

Another 100,000 fall within the influence of the powerful organs of
propaganda emanating from well-knit and centralized fascistic forces
which are conditioning the thinking of certain American citizens and
swer\dng their allegiance to ItaHan dictatorship.

In the same manner in which other un-American movements, such
as the German-American Bund, engage in subversive activities, so,
too, the American-Italian Fascist organizations reflect a shirt-tail
relationship.

This marked similajity is especially noted in the follo\\dng activities:

1. Participation of Italian Fascist Government agents and officials.

2. Training and mdoctrinating American boys and girls in Fascist
ideology.

3. Military formations in the form of Black Shirt legions.

4. Methods employed in Fascist propaganda in other organizations
and on public affairs.

6. Raising of funds, in secret, to aid the Fascist regime in Rome.

6. Fraternizing and cooperation with other subversive movements
across the United States.

ItaHan consular officials and secret Fascist agents are spreading
Fascist propaganda tliroughout the ranks of some Italian-American
organizations in the United States. In addition, they are also expend-
ing every effort to penetrate bona fide Italian-American fraternal
societies with a view to gaining control of these organizations for the
purpose of increasing the influence of the Fascist dictatorship.

There was testimony to the efi'ect that Italian consular officials are
addressing scores of semipubfic gathering and closed meetings in
which they deliver speeches of pure Fascist propaganda, seeldng to
undermine the American form of government (vol. 2, p. 1183).

There was also testimony that some of these Italian Government
oflBcials seek to keep ahve the tie between these people and their former
ruler.

In this they are following the dictates of Mussolini, who states that
ItaHans living abroad must be considered as loyal sons of Italy, even
unto the seventh generation.

UN-AMERICAN ACTIVITIES AND PROPAGANDA H^

Some consular officials participate in meetings where American
dollars are raised for the benefit of the Italian Fascist cause abroad.

It was testified too, that they spy on American citizens and threaten
those who will not subscribe to MussoHni's dictates and philos-
ophy of government and even resort to fraud to gain their ends, by
warning victims with threats of revoking their American citizenship
and sending them home to Italy. In other cases, it was testified
that they also threaten harm to their relatives who are still residing
in Italy, when they fail to won these American citizens over to the
Fascist side.

It was testified that in the United States there is a branch of the
dreaded Italian Government secret pohce, laiown as the OVRA, which
corresponds to the Gestapo of Nazi Germany (vol. 2, p. 1186).

The committee also heard testimony- that this is a spy organiza-
tion which calls at the homes of American citizens of Italian descent
and attempts to frighten them whenever they have participated in
activities which do not conform to Fascist government policy.
This organization is directly linked by this testimony to the Italian
consular service in the United States.

One of the most important fields of activity by Fascist interests
in this country is the growing youth movement of Italian-Fascist
organizations, which is being carried out under the guise of education.

This movement, according to a witness, is centered around the
Dante Ahgherie Society, with headquarters in the same building in
which the Itahan consul of New York has offices, RockefeUer Center.

This witness testified that this society spends thousands of dollars
in free distribution of pamphlets, books, and prizes to pupils.

This witness stated that so powerful is the influence that it exerts
over our American educational system that its director is in a position
to enhst numerous groups of children and bring them over to Italy
each year ostensibly for their vacations, but in reahty to be imbued
with Fascist doctrines.

According to this witness, the pamphlets distributed freely by this
society are of pure Fascist propaganda nature, containing such mate-
rial as speeches by Mussohni, achievements of the Fascist regime
and the nnhtary grandeur of the Itahan Army and Navy, the colonial
conquest, and so on.

The Fascist government also ships into the United States for dis-
tribution through Fascist organizations in this country hundreds of
decorations, medals, ribbons, and the like, all conveying the spirit of
Fascist symbols and rituals.

This point again recalls the similarity between the Fascist and
Nazi organizations in this country. The Nazi groups, hke the Fascist,
distribute books, pamphlets, and prizes from Nazi Germany.

As for the annual excursions for American school children to Italy,
this witness testified that once these youths arrive on Italian shores
they are regarded as part and parcel of the Fascist youth and military
organizations.

As guests of the Itahan Government, these American children, ac-
cording to tliis witness, are given Fascist uniforms and taken to train-
ing camps, where they are to be seen in military formations, drills, and
exercises. Here they remain a month or so under the fuU surveillance
of the Itahan Government.

They also participate in services, meetings, and parades on the
streets of Rome, Genoa, and other cities.

116 UN-AMERICAN ACTIVITIES AND PROPAGANDA

These American children In some cases return from Italy to the
United States dressed in Fascist uniforms.

The Black-Shirt organizations are identical in cliaracter with the
storm troops of the German-American Bund, vnth whom they have
been seen associating and marchinoj in public places. Both of these
organizations are strong-arm detachments for their respective move-
ments.

The Italian Black Shirts, like the bund storm troops, have some war
veterans and aliens in their ranks.

The strongest force of Black Shirts operates in the Harlem section
of New York City, where they parade on the streets.

According to testimonjr before the committee, there are from 10,000
to 15,000 Black Shirt uniforms being worn today in the United States,
with posts of the organizations located in all major cities of the
United States.

During the Ethiopian conquest the Fascist representatives in the
United States enlisted some 1,000 Americans of Itahan descent for
military service in the Italian campaign. Many of these Americans
returned to the United States in Fascist uniforms and have remained
hero since.

There are thousands upon thousands of pieces of Fascist propaganda
shipped from Italy to the United States and then distributed through-
out this country. Much of this Fascist propaganda is distributed
through the consular ofQces and through the "Circoli Itahani all
'Estero' " (Itahan Circles in Foreign Lands).

Propaganda is also being carried on by the agents of the Italian
Fascist Government through publications, racho stations, schools, as
well as through the theater and imported motion pictures.

A number of fascist propaganda films are also shown in the meetings
of ItaUan-Fascist organizations throughout the United States.

The Fascist government also sends to the United States Fascist
speakers, frequently under the guise of commerce and education.
Iheir real purpose is to spread foreign propaganda. These speakers
make appearances at American colleges, universities, and before
American-Itahan societies. Their expenses are paid for by the Itahan
Government out of its fund for propaganda abroad.

During the Fascist conquest of Ethiopia, there was collected thou-
sands of dollars worth of articles contaimng gold and silver, such as ear
rin^s, matrimonial rings, watch chains, and gold fillings from teeth.
This precious metal was shipped to Rome.

It was stated by a witness before the committee that a branch of
the American-Fascist movement also resorted to the method of col-
lecting copper plates for the Italian Government to help offset the
sanctions imposed upon it by the League of Nations. These plates
were printed and sold in the form of post cards (vol. 2, p. 1196). On
these copper cards were inscribed:

Before the altar of the fatherland wo place thla offer and our devotion.
Other similar copper cards bore the following inscription:

This sheet of copper, which we offer to the fatherland, Bymbolizes the faith of
the Italians in America.

After the sale of these copper cards in the United States, it was
stated that thev were mailed to Italy and there they were melted for
the purposes of ammimition.

UN-AMERICAN ACTIVITIES AND PROPAGANDA 117

One of the aspects of all this Fascist activity in the United States
is the fact that many of the Italian Americans who are engaging in
subversive activities are actually on relief rolls or employed by Works
Progress Administration and other Government agencies.

Here we have the spectacle of men and women who are American
citizens or aliens and earning their bread from the hands of the Federal
Government while at the same time working quietly to undermine
and destroy the very Republic that is feeding, sheltering, and clothing
them.

ANTIRACIAL ORGANIZATIONS

Many of the antiracial organizations that have come under our
scrutiny were created for the pecuniary and selfish aggrandizement
of crackpots whose offspring they are.

Many of them are not incorporated ; most of them keep no books,
have no records that can be checked, maintain no bank accounts,
keep no files, and do nothing but talk about their supposed objectives.

Some of them are tinged \vith the virus of Nazi or fascistic activity
and the only thing that has kept them from being welded into a co-
hesive group that would violate every tenet of democracy is the
fact that they cannot agree on who should be the fuehrer and, equally
as important, their source of individual revenue would be cut off.

Perusal of a partial list of such aggregations, shows indiscriminate
use of the words "American," "Christian," "Defenders," "National"
and "Patriot."

With the advent of Adolf Hitler in Germany and the creation of the
Friends of New Germany, the Nazi counterpart in this country some 5
years ago, hundreds of these organizations have sprung up. They
have been used to create racial and religious intolerance in America
and have been the instrumentality by which carping critics of a chang-
ing social order here have tried to stop progress.

After the Congressional Committee to Investigate Un-American
Activities, headed by Congressman John W. McCormack, character-
ized many of these groups as "rackets" in 1935, there was a luU in their
activities.

This committee had approximately 135 so-caUed un-American or-
ganizations brought to its attention. The committee had before it
printed matter published by 73 of them, and due to the limited time
and funds, could only personally check 64 of them.

Of the 54 organizations checked by the committee's investigator,
who was accompanied by official reporters, all of them without excep-
tion refused to show their books and membership lists and contribu-
tions or anything of the sort.

In the course of this investigation the committee learned that cer-
tain Nazi-minded individuals in California were trying to foment anti-
Semitism among Negroes. The testimony before this committee shows
that Robert L. Vann, a former Assistant United States Attorney Gen-
eral and editor of the Pittsburgh Courier, one of the largest Negro news-
papers in the United States, had received a letter from Fritz R. H.
Heubner of Los Angeles calling attention to the Arab revolt in Pal£s-
tine and urging the cooperation of the Negroes against certain religious
minorities in this country.

A careful check and study of these organizations has convinced
this committee that not more than 25 percent of them can be con-
sidered bona fide. The other 75 percent are pure rackets or letter-

lis UN-AMERICAN ACTIVITIES AND PROPAGANDA

head organizations created for the sole purpose of enriching their
leaders. It must be stated to their everlnsting credit that the great
majority of Americans refuse to have anything to do with them.

Furthermore, the study and consideration given the material
published by some of these groups leads to the inevitable conclusion
that practically the entire content of them comes from some central
source as j'ct unlaiown to tiiis comnntteo wliich seems not only to
furnish the material but helps in its circularization.

Several tangible efforts have been made to merge these subversive
and un-American organizations without success.

In the smnmer of 1937, George Dcatherage, of the Knights of the
White Camclia and American Nationalist Conference fame, issued a
call for a coalition of Christian organizations to meet at Kansas City,
Mo., on August 20 of that year.

At this latter conference, Dcatherage claimed that the oi^aniza-
tions present had a membership of more than a million, which was
found to be a terrific exaggeration.

This same Dcatherage urged the adoption of the fiery swastika as
an emblem of this new group, explaining that just as the Ku Klux
Klan had been brought to a greater effectiveness by the burning of the
fiery cross just so his group would bring terror and fear into the hearts
of many by burning a fier}'^ swastika.

Evidence taken also shows that efforts to merge and join these
various un-American groups have failed because they cannot decide
upon who is to become the "super-fuehrer" and because they realize
that once merged the individual sources of revenue that these groups
may have had w^ould be shut off.

However, it cannot be too strongly emphasized that the great
majority of citizens of the United States of every race, religion, social,
or eonomic condition in life are loyal and patriotic Americans; that
the great majority of laboring people, both organized and unorganized,
are opposed to Communism.

VI. Summary of Findings

Wliile it is true that our committee has only scratched the surface
of the un-American and subversive activities of those who are invading
America with their alien ideologies, it is also true that we have received
abimdant e^'idence to support the following findings with reference to
the Communist Party:

It is an integral part of a world revolutionary movement for pro-
letarian internationalism.

It is under direct control of the Third International which has its
headquarters in Moscow.

It looks upon Russia as the "fatherland of the revolutionary work-
ers," and cannot claim, therefore, any degree of loyalty to the Ameri-
can form of government.

"Whereas it once employed the frank slogan of "the Defense of the
Soviet Union," it works today to embroil this country in a foreign
war by the propagation of the doctrine of "collective security."

It seeks ultimately the overthrow of the American form of govern-
ment as established by the Constitution of the United States.

It aims to set up a dictatorship of the proletariat in this country,
notwithstanding its present tactical sUenco on this fundamental tenet
of communism.

UN-AIVIERICAN ACTIVITIES AND PROPAGANDA UQ

It rests upon brutal violence despite its present dishonest profession
of belief in the processes of democracy.

It is bound by no ordinary ethical limitations in seeking to advance
its program.

It aims at the complete confiscation of private property in the means
of production, including the socialization of the land.

It hides behind civil liberties in pursuing ends which will destroy
civil liberties for all but the ruling few of the proletarian dictatorship.

It works on the principle of leverage in accomplishing its purposes,
depending not upon a majority of voters but upon a highly disciplined
minority.

It is energetically applying the Trojan Horse tactic of penetrating
other organizations for the purpose of seeking to control them or,
failing that, to destro]^ them.

It IS unusually active in our schools, both openly and subtly in-
sinuating its propaganda into the minds of students.

It is boring from within the two major political parties.

During the next 2 years, it will concentrate much of its effort in the
formation of a national farmer-labor party which it will seek to dom-
inate.

It is the enemy of all forms of religion and looks upon faith in God
as an outworn superstition.

It is, nevertheless, doing its utmost to make inroads into numerous
religious organizations.

In the masquerade of science, it offers the most unscientific ap-
proach to human problems which the world has seen since the Dark
Ages.

It stifles the creative impulses of the individual by its deadening
regimentation.

It is basically a philosophy of hatred which seeks to promote class
war.

It is boring from within labor unions on a wide scale, seeking to
dominate or wreck the unions for purposes that are alien to the inter-
ests of organized wage earners.

It deliberately provokes violence in labor disputes for the purpose
of training a revolutionary group in the tactics of civil war.

It seeks to sabotage and cripple our economy on every possible front,
with a view to its profiting by the resulting economic crises.

It alines itself with every crack-pot scheme to undermine our system
of free enterprise and private initiative.

It has penetrated the Government itself, with the result that some
Communists hold key positions in Federal agencies and projects.

It has induced and financed many volunteers to' go from this coun-
try to fight on the side of the Spanish LoyaUst Government.

It aims to incite race war by its special agitation among the Negro
population of this country.

_ It fears to have the spotlight of publicity turned upon its real
aims and methods, and wiU stop at nothing to discredit, if possible,
those who fearlessly expose its program and activities.

It seeks to silence all hostile criticism by charging its critics with
red-baiting, while, at the same time, it viciously baits those who dare
to oppose it.

It resorts to organized campaigns of character assassination
wherever the charge of red-baiting does not suffice to silence its critics.

It tries to exploit any existing discontent for the purpose of building

120 UN-AMERICAN ACTIVITIES AND PROPAGANDA

a revolutionary movement which has noticing to do 'with the solving
of the problems from wliich discontent arises.

It dangles the promise of economic security before the victims of
economic distress, offering them a new slavery in the name of
emancipation.

It systematically and deliberately deceives many of our people by
the use of high-sounding names for organizations which profess
laudable objectives, but which, underneath, are designed solely to
advance the cause of communism.

It exercises extensive influence among several millions in this
country through the do\ice laiown as the united front.

It persuades thousands of careless or innocent Americans to lend
their names for the propaganda purposes of the Communist Party,

It employs numerous "fellow travelers" who outnumber its card-
holding membership, and by the use of these "fellow travelers"
extends its influence into organizations and institutions of every
description.

Finally, it is diametrically opposed to the principles of Americanism,
as set forth in the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence.

Our committee has received abundant evidence to support these
findings with reference to the nature, program, and activities of the
Communist Party. We have also probed into the activities of the
Nazi-Fascist groups which are operating in this country under instruc-
tions from Germany and Italy. The Nazi-Fascist groups gave their
own special techniques, but they, Uke the Communist Party, aim
ultimately at the destruction of our free institutions. Communism
differs from nazi-ism and fascism in details, but in the larger funda-
mentals these three forms of dictatorship become more and more alike
with every passing year. Both the Nazis and the Fascists have shown
themselves to be apt students of the Communist tactics of propa-
ganda as well as able imitators of the Communist form of dictatorship
m government.

We believe that the failure of the Labor Department to carry out
the laws \vith respect to deportation is a contributing factor to the
widespread activities and propaganda carried on by un-American
elements in the United States,

This committee believes that the National Labor Relations Board
should bo subjected to a thorough investigation for the purpose of
determining to what extent the members of the Board and its em-
ployees approve of the Communist views expressed by Mr. David J.
Saposs, chief economist.

Communists seized strategic positions in certain miions affiliated
with the C. I. O.

Communist documents and records presented to the committee
indicate that the Communist leaders assumed ^reat credit for the
organizing of steel, automobile, and other industries and the direction
of the strikes which followed.

This committee has established, on the basis of the Communist
Party's own literature, that Communists are actively boring from
withm churches, schools, youth organizations, and every other organi-
zation and institution into which they can find entrance,

A courageous stand on the part of all public officials involved — with
reference to sit-down and unauthorized strikes and Lansing Hofiday
incident — would have prevented these disgraceful occurrences and
would have avoided the loss of millions of dollars to both labor and

UN-AMERICAN ACTIVITIES AND PROPAGANDA 121

capital, which resulted from the stoppage of work and the inability
of thousands of employees to work. This committee feels it would
be derehct in its duty to the people if it did not denounce this lawless-
ness as distinctly and clearly un-American.

The sit-down strike technique was largely imported from abroad
and was put into effect in this country for the purpose of paralyzing
industry and producing a revolution.

It would be hard to estimate the total loss sustained by the Nation
as a result of the numerous acts of violence and lawlessness that
occurred during this period. Most of it can be attributed to the'
activities of the Communists in instigating and conducting unauthor-
ized strikes and sit-down strikes.

The evidence indicates very clearly that the Communists had suc-
ceeded in penetrating the Farmer-Labor Party of Minnesota and
seizing many strategic positions; that they were using the Farmer-
Labor Party to promote communism and class warfare.

The Communist Party has never found it necessary to have a
majority of the members of the united front on its side in order to
exercise a dominant control in their affairs and activities.

The aim of the united front is to extend the influence of the Com-
munist Party far beyond the circle of its own membership, and even
far beyond the periphery of the fellow travelers. ^

By the utihzation of discontent, the Communist Party undertakes
to transform any degree or kind of protest into petty hatred, and
from this to fashion the instruments of class war.

The largest of the Conununist front movements in the United
States is the American League for Peace and Democracy, formerly
known as the League Against War and Fascism.

Second in size and importance, from the Communist standpoint
and, therefore, a menace to our country, is the Workers Alliance of
America.

According to documents pubUshed by the International Labor
Defense, it is the American section of the M, O. P. R., or the Red
International of Labor Defense, often referred to as the Red liter-
national Aid.

The Friends of the Soviet Uniop is possibly one of the most open
Communist fronts in the United States.

Possibly one of the most effective and closely loiitted organizations
among the Communist front movements is the International Workers
Order.

As a section of the World Student Association for Peace, Freedom
and Culture^ the American Student Union is the result of a imited
front gathermg of young Socialists and Communists.

The Communist front movement in the United States among
Negroes is known as the National Negro Congress.

The American Youth Congress was not originally set up by Com-
munists but it was penetrated by them, as shown by the reports of
its first congress, which was held in Washington, D. C.

122 UN-AMERICAN ACTIVITIES AND PROPAGANDA

From the evidence before us 'vve are not in a position to definitely
state whether or not the Civil Liberties Union can properly be classed
as a Communist organization. But the statement of the United Mine
Workers to the effect that the Civil Liberties Union is serving as a
forerunner and trail blazer for the active and insidious activities of the
Communist is borne out by the evidence wo have heard thus far. We
strongly urge that tliis organization be investigated.

A largo part of un-American activities is inspired by Communists,
Nazis, and Fascists, aliens in the United States. Some of them are
direct representatives and agents of foreign governments. Some of
them occupy important positions in other organizations and are able to
wield considerable political influence.

There is no excuse for the failure of the Labor Department to deport
these aliens.

In the opinion of the committee the Strecker case docs not have any
important bearing on the Bridges case because the facts in the Bridges
case are much stronger than in the Strecker case.

In the record of these hearings will be found considerable evidence,
arguments, and citations of legal authorities which, in our judgment,
definitely establish that the Department of Labor is without justifica-
tion in postponing deportation proceedings against Harry Bridges.

The testimony reveals that the Communists have conducted a
systematic and well-organized campaign to secure volunteers for the
lovalist cause; that they have a central office in New York City where
all volunteers are directed to report; that they have sufficient funds to
finance the transportation of these volunteers to Spain and that they
have been able to circumvent the law and operate illegally in getting
these volunteers to Spain.

It was definitely shown that the Nazi activities in the United
States have their counterpart in everything that has been done and is
being done by similar movements of Nazis in other countries.

These Nazi activities in the United States are traceable to and
linked with government-controlled agencies in Nazi Germany and it
is not unreasonable to suppose that unless checked immediately an
American-Nazi force may cause great unrest and serious repercussions
in the United States.

From its membership, the German-American Bund can muster
within its own ranks a uniformed force of 5,000 storm troops.

In this correspondence (correspondence secured by an investigator
of the committee from the Chicago Bund post) it was definitely shown
that the foreign institute of the Nazi Government at Stuttgart was
one of the instruments used in assisting the German-American Bund
in spreading propaganda in this country. Throughout this entire
correspondence there is definite evidence and proof that the groups
operated in this country are directed by organizations in Germany
and get their support and directions from the German Government
itself.

Some German-American children are being Hitlerized by the leaders
of the German-American Bund, despite the fact that under the Ameri-
can law every child born in this country is an American citizen.

Denials to the contrary notwithstanding, this committee was greatly
impressed with the evidence presented showing that there is a relation-
ship existing between the German Government and the German-
American Bund through the activity of Nazi consuls in this country.

UN-AMBRIOAN ACTIVITIES AND PROPAGANDA 123

Propaganda direct from the German Ministry of Propaganda and
Enlightenment is distributed by bund officials and evidence was
introduced showing definitely that printed propaganda material was
shipped from Germany to the United States.

Pistol and rifle ranges for all storm troops of the German- American
Bund were to be set up according to plans formulated at the conference
of the bund in New York City in July 1937, according to testimony
heard by this committee on October 5, 1938.

The Amerika Deutscher Volksbund, United States voice of nazi-ism,
has been seeking to consolidate their varicolored shirts into one
great movement which the Hitler-inspired bund is to lead.

American-Italian Black Shirt Legions, 10,000 strong are marching
in America with the same resounding tread as those of the goose-
stepping detachments of German-American Bund storm troops, testi-
mony before the committee revealed.

Many of the antiracial organizations that have come under our
scrutiny were created for the pecuniary and selfish aggrandizement
of crackpots whose offspring they are.

From the testimony we heard we are convinced that a rather large
number of the employees on the Federal Theater Project are either
members of the Communist Party or are sympathetic with the Com-
munist Party. It is also clear that certain employees felt under coni-
pulsion to join the Workers' Alliance of America in order to retain
their positions. The evidence is very clear that certain employees
carried on communistic activities openly in the Federal Writers'
Project.

The real influence of Communists must be measured in terms of
their ability to direct or influence other organizations and groups who
have many times the membership that the Communist Party claims.
It cannot be too strongly emphasized that the great majority of
citizens of the United States of every race, religion, social, or economic
condition in life are loyal and patriotic Americans, that the great
majority of laboring people, both organized and unorganized, are
opposed to communism.

VII. Recommendations

Although this committee has worked continuously since the ad-
journment of Congress and has done everything within its power to
get as many facts as possible to the people we have only skimmed
the surface. We were able only to hold brief hearings in New York
and Detroit. We were urged to conduct hearings in many other
cities, such as Chicago, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Minneapolis, Mil-
waukee, Birmingham, Atlanta, "New Orleans, San Antonio, Los
Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle, and Portland, but due to limited
time and funds we were unable to comply with these requests.
We had hoped and planned to conduct extensive hearings on the west
coast because the evidence before the committee indicates that this
area ranks first in the extent of un-American activities and propa-
ganda. We received numerous letters from citizens and public officials
in the west coast area urging us to hold hearings there. We have
approximately 150 witnesses in the west coast section that should
have been heard. However, due to a lack of funds we were unable to
devote any extensive consideration to west coast activities of Com-

124 UN-AMERICAN ACTIVITIES AND PROPAGANDA

niunist, Nazi, and Fascist groups. The situation is so serious on the
west coast that it would require 6 months of preparatory investiga-
tion before a committee would be ready to conduct hearings, and it is
probable that hearings woidd last -3 or 4 months.

Not only were we unable to investigate un-American activities and
propaganda in many important sections of the country, but as a
matter of fact, we found it impossible to investigate many of the im-
portant phases of un-American activities. Even as to those that we
did investigate, we only scratched the surface.

In view of the foregoing, w^e do not thinlc that the investigation
has proceeded far enough to justify us in recommending legislation to
Ccngress. We need and can secure much more information not only
from sections of the country that we have investigated but also from
the larger areas that we have not even touched before recommending
legislation to Congress. Even after we are supphcd with full and
complete information and facts several months of consideration must
be devoted to the question of legislation. This will require expert
assistance and thorough research.

It is our recommendation that the House of Representatives adopt
a resolution continuing this committee and investigation for a period
of 2 years, and that the House of Representatives place at the disposal
of the committee not less than $150,000; that the committee continue
its investigation along nonpartisan and courageous lines because any
investigation conducted along any other line would be more harmfid
than helpful; that unless the committee is supplied with adequate
funds upon the definite understanding that the investigation shall
continue along nonpartisan lines, without regard to any other question
except the discovery of the truth, the investigation should not be
continued. No individual or organization engaged in un-American
activities should be shielded because of political expediency. The
Congress should also require the appropriate departments to co-
operate with the committee. The continued success of the investi-
gation will depend solely upon the courage, fearlessness, and the
thoroughness with which it is conducted, and upon the assumption
and maintenance throughout the investigation of a strictly non-
partisan attitude and pohcy.

Martin Dies, Chaimiarif
Joe Starnes,
John J. Dempset,
Harold G. Mosier,
Arthur D. Healey,
N. M. Mason,
J. Parnell Thomas,
Special Committee on Un-American Activities.
Attest:

Robert E. Stripling, Secretary.

BOSTON PUBLIC LIBRARY

3 9999 05445 3400

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Full text of "Investigation of un-American activities and propaganda. Report of the Special committee on un-American activities pursuant to H. Res. 282 (75th Congress)"

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